grapheme

[ graf-eem ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Linguistics.

a minimal unit of a writing system.
a unit of a writing system consisting of all the written symbols or sequences of written symbols that are used to represent a single phoneme.

grapheme

/ ˈɡræfiːm /

noun

linguistics one of a set of orthographic symbols (letters or combinations of letters) in a given language that serve to distinguish one word from another and usually correspond to or represent phonemes, e.g. the f in fun, the ph in phantom, and the gh in laugh

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Derived Forms

graˈphemically, adverb

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Other Words From

gra·phemi·cal·ly adverb

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Word History and Origins

Origin of grapheme¹

First recorded in 1935–40; graph- + -eme

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Word History and Origins

Origin of grapheme¹

C20: from Greek graphēma a letter

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Example Sentences

Since 2002, some fMRI investigations of grapheme-color synesthesia—the most widely studied kind—have shown that graphemes stimulate the V4 region of the brain.

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This is consistent with a model where the regions of the brain that analyze graphemes and that deal with color are somehow hyper-connected to create a synesthetic event.

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