Minimal pairs involving the word boars (or bores)    [boresandboars.html]

The word boars (and its homophone bores) emerges as the word which enters the greatest number of minimal pairs in the Mitton dictionary, appearing in 67 pairs belonging to 42 different lists. For amusement I have added several proper names which were not in the original list, bringing the total to 70. I realise that including two different spellings and pronunciations of a Russian beetroot soup is stretching a point, but they were both in the dictionary.

Initial consonant   Vowel   Closing consonant
p pause
paws
pores
pours
  i B's
bees
  p -
t tawse
tors
  ɪ biz   t bought
d daws
doors
  e -   d bawd
board
bored
k cause
caws
corps
cores
  æ Baz
(abbr. of Basil)
  k balk
g gauze
gores
  ɑ baas
bars
  g Borg (tennis-player)
f fours   ɒ Boz
(Pen-name of Dickens)
  f -
v -   ʊ -   v -
Ɵ thaws   u boos
booze
  Ɵ -
ð -   ʌ buzz   ð -
s saws
soars
sores
  3 burrs   s -
z -   ə -   b -
ʃ shores   baize
bays
beys
  ʃ borsch
ʒ -   buys
byes
  ʒ -
h haws
whores
  ɔɪ boys
buoys
  h -
m maws   əʊ bows
beaux
  m -
n gnaws   boughs
bows
  n born
borne
bourne
ŋ -   ɪə beers
biers
  ŋ -
l laws   bares
bears
  l ball
r roars   ʊə boors   r -
j yaws j -
w wars w -
ʧ chaws
chores
ʧ bortsch
ʤ jaws ʤ -

John Higgins, Shaftesbury, January 2011
updated Chiang Mai, 2024