fonema

Definitions of fonema
  1. noun
    (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language
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    types:
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    vocale
    a speech sound made with the vocal tract open
    consonante
    a speech sound that is not a vowel
    dittongo
    a vowel sound that starts near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves toward the position for another
    palatale
    a semivowel produced with the tongue near the palate (like the initial sound in the English word `yeast')
    type of:
    unità linguistica
    one of the natural units into which linguistic messages can be analyzed
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