Noun: complementary distribution ,kóm-plu'men-t(u-)ree,dis-tru'byoo-shun
- (linguistics) a distribution of related speech sounds or forms in such a way that they only appear in different contexts
"In English, [h] and [ŋ] are in complementary distribution, never occurring in the same position";
- complementation
Derived forms: complementary distributions
Type of: dispersion, distribution
Encyclopedia: Complementary distribution