complementary distribution

noun

Meaning

The distribution of phones in their respective phonetic environments such that one never appears in the same phonetic context as the other

Etymology / origin

No prose etymology has been added yet.

No ancestor words have been linked yet.

Related words

diphone(English)homorganic(English)complementary antonym(English)complementarity(English)minimal pair(English)noncomplementarity(English)homologue(English)metaphone(English)

Descendant words

No descendant words have been linked yet.

Sources

DictionaryAPI.dev English dictionary data