Phoneme

This article is about the speech unit. For the JavaME library, see phoneME. For the collection of phenotypes, see phenome.

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

A phoneme (/ˈfoʊniːm/) is any set of similar speech sounds that is perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another.[1] All languages contains phonemes (or the spatial-gestural equivalent in sign languages), and all spoken languages include both consonant and vowel phonemes. Phonemes are primarily studied under the branch of linguistics known as phonology.

  1. ^ "phoneme". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.