phoneme

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In Portuguese however we will find only one high-front vowel phoneme, as in vida or linda.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun 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.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (28)

  • The same phoneme-type sounds as the other languages, but it's nothing like an even distribution. —  AnalogSFF,April2008
  • A phoneme is the smallest sound unit by which we distinguish one word from another.
  • One of the most famous artists to ground their work in the phoneme is the Dadaist Kurt Schwitters, whose "Ur Sonata" demilitarized language after World War I by softening and subtilizing phonemes through the performance of a score. Schwitters 'work coincides with the Russian Futurists', whose made-up language "Zaum" used phonemics to tap language's universal source, and thereby its glossolalic, transliterative potentials.
  • The û phoneme is a can of worms, & I wasn't so much recommending an American pronunciation as dodging the issue. —  Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]
  • In Portuguese however we will find only one high-front vowel phoneme, as in vida or linda. —  Recently Uploaded Slideshows
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French phonème, from Greek phōnēma, phōnēmat-, utterance, sound produced, from phōnein, to produce a sound, from phōnē, sound, voice; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Greek φώνημα, a sound made, a voice, from φωνωῑν, make a sound, speak.
 

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/ˈfoʊnim/
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