In linguistics, complementary distribution, as distinct from contrastive distribution and free variation, is the relationship between two different elements of the same kind, where one element is found in one set of environments and the other element is found in a non-intersecting (i.e. complementary) set of environments. It often indicates that t...
[n] - (linguistics) a distribution of related speech sounds or forms in such a way that they only appear in different contexts
complementation noun (linguistics) a distribution of related speech sounds or forms in such a way that they only appear in different contexts
a relation such that the members of a pair or set of phones, morphs, or other linguistic units have no environment in common, as aspirated “p” and unaspirated “p” in English, the first occurring only in positions where the second does not. Also calledCf. free variation.