a
llo
phone
Plural
allophones
1
a variant pronunciation of a phoneme, which can occur due to phonetic differences in specific contexts or environments within a language
An allophone is a variation of a phoneme that occurs in specific contexts but does not change the meaning of a word. Allophones are different ways a single phoneme can be pronounced based on surrounding sounds, stress, or position within a word. For example, the phoneme /t/ can be pronounced as the aspirated [tʰ] in "top" and as a glottal stop [ʔ] in some dialects of English in the word "button." Although these variations sound different, they are still recognized as the same phoneme in the language. Understanding allophones is important in phonetics and linguistics because it reveals how sounds are produced and perceived in different contexts without altering meaning.
- In phonetics, an allophone is a variant form of a phoneme, which occurs in specific phonetic environments.
- The pronunciation of the "t" sound in "water" as a flap [ɾ] in American English is an allophone of the phoneme /t/.
- Linguists analyze the distribution of allophones within a language to understand its phonological rules and patterns.
- Allophones can differ in their articulation but do not change the meaning of a word.
- The variation of the "r" sound in different dialects of English is an example of allophonic variation.