
Phoneme - Wikipedia
A phoneme is a sound or a group of different sounds perceived to have the same function by speakers of the language or dialect in question. An example is the English phoneme /k/, which occurs in words …
PHONEME Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of PHONEME is any of the abstract units of the phonetic system of a language that correspond to a set of similar speech sounds (such as the velar \k\ of cool and the palatal \k\ of keel) …
Phonemes: Definition and Examples in English - ThoughtCo
May 1, 2025 · A phoneme is the smallest sound in a language that can change a word's meaning. Phonemes differ between languages; what is distinct in one may not be in another.
What is a Phoneme? - phonics.org
May 26, 2025 · What is a phoneme? Discover what they are and why they're crucial for your child's reading development.
It’s the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another. Since sounds cannot be written, we use letters to represent or stand for the sounds. A grapheme is the written representation (a letter …
PHONEME | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
PHONEME definition: 1. one of the smallest units of speech that make one word different from another word: 2. one of…. Learn more.
What is a Phoneme: The Building Blocks of Spoken Language
Dec 4, 2025 · The smallest unit of sound, a phoneme, carries meaning and is used to differentiate between words. The one-sound difference found at the beginning of ‘hat’ versus ‘cat’ serves as an …
What Is a Phoneme? - The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
What Is a Phoneme? Language is the means by which we communicate through words with structure and meaning. Starting at an early age, we become increasingly aware of how words join with other …
phoneme - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Dec 14, 2025 · From Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”), from φωνέω (phōnéō, “to sound”), from φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”). By surface analysis, phone (“speech sound”) + -eme (“unit”). phoneme …
Phoneme | Speech Sounds, Phonetics, Phonology | Britannica
Dec 17, 2025 · Phoneme, in linguistics, smallest unit of speech distinguishing one word (or word element) from another, as the element p in “tap,” which separates that word from “tab,” “tag,” and “tan.”