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Definition of phoneme - 5 dictionary results

pho⋅neme

  [foh-neem]
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–noun Linguistics.
any of a small set of units, usually about 20 to 60 in number, and different for each language, considered to be the basic distinctive units of speech sound by which morphemes, words, and sentences are represented. They are arrived at for any given language by determining which differences in sound function to indicate a difference in meaning, so that in English the difference in sound and meaning between pit and bit is taken to indicate the existence of different labial phonemes, while the difference in sound between the unaspirated p of spun and the aspirated p of pun, since it is never the only distinguishing feature between two different words, is not taken as ground for setting up two different p phonemes in English. Compare distinctive feature (def. 1).
Origin:
1890–95; < F phonème < Gk phnēma sound, equiv. to phōnē-, verbid s. of phōneîn to make a sound (deriv. of phon sound, voice) + -ma n. suffix denoting result of action
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pho·neme   (fō'nēm')   
n.  The smallest phonetic unit in a language that is capable of conveying a distinction in meaning, as the m of mat and the b of bat in English.

[French phonème, from Greek phōnēma, phōnēmat-, utterance, sound produced, from phōnein, to produce a sound, from phōnē, sound, voice; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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phoneme 
"distinctive sound or group of sounds," 1896, from Gk. phonema "a sound," from phonein "to sound or speak," from phone "sound, voice," from PIE base *bha- "speak" (see fame).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: pho·neme
Pronunciation: 'fO-"nEm
Function: noun
: a member of the set of the smallest units of speech that serve to distinguish oneutterance from another in a language or dialect /p/ of English pat and the /f/ of English fat are two different phonemes> —pho·ne·mic /f&-'nE-mik, fO-/ adjective —pho·ne·mi·cal·ly /-mi-k(&-)lE/ adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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phoneme pho·neme (fō'nēm')
n.
The smallest phonetic unit in a language that is capable of conveying a distinction in meaning, as the m of mat and the b of bat in English.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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