Phonemes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The minimal sound units in a language that can distinguish meaning are essential components of speech that form the basis of words
2. These distinct sound elements allow for meaningful communication by differentiating various word forms
3. The basic units of sound in a language serve to create contrasts in meaning and are foundational to the structure of words and communication

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "phoneme" is how recent it is in its current sense. The Greek "phōnēma" meant simply "sound" or "utterance," coming from "phōneein," "to sound," which itself grew out of "phōnē," the voice. The ancient Greeks used it in that loose everyday way, with no notion of a minimal unit of speech that distinguishes meanings. The modern technical sense is a 19th-century development, built by scholars who needed a precise term. Linguists analysing languages began to see that differences between sounds mattered only when they changed meaning, as the difference between "bat" and "pat" does in English. The old Greek word was pressed into service for this new idea, and the "phone" part of it had come to mean a speech sound while "-eme" had come to mean a unit, which together describe the concept neatly.

Synonyms: sounds, speech sounds