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 …

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) …

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.”

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.

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 definition: 1. one of the smallest units of speech that make one word different from another word: 2. one of…. Learn more.

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 …

Definition of phoneme noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Phoneme definition with examples. Phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a word that makes a difference in its pronunciation and meaning.

A phoneme may consist of several phonetically distinct articulations, which are regarded as identical by native speakers, since one articulation may be substituted for another without any change of meaning.