Speech sounds that differ but do not create a meaningful change in the word are known as allophones of the same phoneme. For example, the English k sounds in the words kill and skill are not identical (as described below), but they are distributional variants of a single phoneme /k/. However, a phoneme is generally regarded as an abstraction of a set (or equivalence class) of speech sounds ( phones) that are perceived as equivalent to each other in a given language. There are differing views as to exactly what phonemes are and how a given language should be analyzed in phonemic (or phonematic) terms. To show pronunciation, linguists use square brackets: (indicating an aspirated p in pat). Phonemes that are established by the use of minimal pairs, such as tap vs tab or pat vs bat, are written between slashes: /p/, /b/. If, in another language, any two sequences differing only by pronunciation of the final sounds or are perceived as being the same in meaning, then these two sounds are interpreted as phonetic variants of a single phoneme in that language. Two words like this that differ in meaning through the contrast of a single phoneme form a minimal pair. In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme ( / ˈ f oʊ n iː m/) is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.įor example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west of England, the sound patterns / s ɪ n/ ( sin) and / s ɪ ŋ/ ( sing) are two separate words that are distinguished by the substitution of one phoneme, /n/, for another phoneme, /ŋ/. For the distinction between, / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
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