In alphabetic writing systems, letters represent sounds or phonemes. What are these sounds called?

In alphabetic writing systems, letters represent sounds or phonemes. What are these sounds called?

• A. Phonemes
• B. Morphemes
• C. Graphemes
• D. Allophones

Answer: (A)

In alphabetic writing, the sounds that letters stand for are called phonemes. Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that can change meaning in a language, and they are abstract sounds rather than the written symbols themselves. This is different from morphemes, which are the smallest units of meaning (like the plural suffix -s), and from graphemes, which are the letters or letter patterns used in writing. Allophones are just variant pronunciations of the same phoneme that don’t change meaning. For example, the sounds /t/ and /d/ are distinct phonemes in many languages because they help distinguish words like “tip” and “dip.”

In alphabetic writing, the sounds that letters stand for are called phonemes. Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that can change meaning in a language, and they are abstract sounds rather than the written symbols themselves. This is different from morphemes, which are the smallest units of meaning (like the plural suffix -s), and from graphemes, which are the letters or letter patterns used in writing. Allophones are just variant pronunciations of the same phoneme that don’t change meaning. For example, the sounds /t/ and /d/ are distinct phonemes in many languages because they help distinguish words like “tip” and “dip.”