Super Glossary

Phoneme

Entertainment / Literature / Phoneme: The smallest sound or part of a spoken word that serves as a building block in a larger syllable or word, and which cannot be broken down further into smaller constitutive sounds. Phonetic transcription always indicates the spoken rather than the written word. This term contrasts with graphemes (the letters or smallest written symbols that 'count' as a unit of an alphabet) and morphemes (smallest units that have meaning--either written or spoken). For instance, in the word rerun, the morphemes are re- and run. Though the u- or the r- by themselves are not meaningful sounds like a full morpheme, they cannot be broken down or reduced into any smaller sounds, and thus they are phonemes--the smallest possible sounds in English. Linguists often transcribe English words into phonetic markings to indicate subtle differences in accent, pronunciation, etc., which may or may not correspond to the graphemes (the markings we use to symbolize sounds--i.e., the written word). When they do so, they often enclose the phonetic symbols in slashes /laik ???†?€?Is/ and enclose the graphic markings in chevrons so the reader can tell whether that linguist is discussing the spoken form of the word or the written form of the word. Contrast with graphemeand morpheme.
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