phoneme

English

/ˈfoʊnim/, /ˈfəʊniːm/

noun
Definitions
  • An indivisible unit of sound in a given language. A phoneme is an abstraction of the physical speech sounds (phones) and may encompass several different phones.

Etymology

Derived from Ancient Greek φώνημα (sound, language, utterance, sound made, thing spoken, speech) root from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (speak, shine, say, glow).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*bʰeh₂-

Gloss

speak, shine, say, glow

Concept
Semantic Field

Speech and language

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

Emoji
🗣️ 🗣️ 🙊

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms