Phoneme
Phoneme
A Phoneme (/ˈfoʊniːm/; from the Greek: φώνημα, phōnēma, 'a sound uttered') is the smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
Etymology
The term Phoneme was first used in the mid-19th century by the French linguist A. Dufriche-Desgenettes. In 1873, he used the term to describe the smallest sound unit in a language that can distinguish one word from another. The term was adapted into English from the French 'phonème' in the late 19th century.
Definition
A Phoneme is a basic unit of a language's phonology, which is combined with other phonemes to form meaningful units such as words or morphemes. The set of phonemes in any given language varies, with English having approximately 44 phonemes, while other languages may have as few as 11 or as many as 60.
Related Terms
- Allophone: An alternative articulation of a phoneme in a particular language.
- Morpheme: The smallest meaningful unit of language.
- Phonology: The systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language.
- Phonetics: The study of the physical sounds of human speech.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Phoneme
- Wikipedia's article - Phoneme
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