) instead of just getting on the bus; asking someone in the street to explain some unusual object or event (rather than just passing it by); asking someone on the bus or train to explain something in their Chinese textbook, etc.. All the while, therefore, they are taking and creating ...
If two sounds occurring in the same environment do not contrast; namely, if the substitution of one for the other does not generate a new word form but merely a different pronunciation of the same word, the two sounds then are said to be in “free variation”. The plosives, for example,...