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nimnoun 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; < French phonème < Greek phṓnēma sound, equivalent to phōnē-, verbid stem of phōneîn to make a sound (derivative of phonḗ sound, voice) + -ma noun suffix denoting result of action
1890–95; < French phonème < Greek phṓnēma sound, equivalent to phōnē-, verbid stem of phōneîn to make a sound (derivative of phonḗ sound, voice) + -ma noun suffix denoting result of action
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Phoneme
is always a great word to know.
So is hierarchy. Does it mean:
| the system of levels according to which a language is organized, as phonemic, morphemic, syntactic, or semantic |
| the classification of languages according to structural features such as patterns of phonology, morphology, and syntax, excluding their histories |
Example Sentences
- Spoken, it's relying primarily on phoneme production, and secondarily on word choice.
- The two researchers are convinced that the brains of dyslexics store an improper and unreliable representation of phoneme sounds.
- Supervoice contains a collection of recorded samples of each phoneme.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
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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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
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