Question

True or False: Phonemes are vowels and consonants, as well as the different pronunciations that we have for each. please dont guess if you dont know just skip please

Answer 1

A) true

Step-by-step explanation:

Phonemes are the smallest units of sounds that make up speech. In English, phonemes are vowels and consonants, as well as the different pronunciations we have for each (such the “a” in cat and coat). In order for a phoneme to have meaning, we combine them to form morphemes, or the smallest units of meaning.

Answer 2

No. That's false.

Step-by-step explanation:

Phonemes are distinct units of sound in a language that distinguish one word from another. It's what distinguishes the meanings of words. They are both vowels and consonants.

bad vs. dad / cat vs. cot

Allophones, on the other hand, are the different pronunciations of phonemes, but they are not phonemes because they do not change the meaning of the word.

Consider the word 'butter'. Some native speakers will say [bʌɾə] (budder). Others will say [bʌtə] (butter). You can see here that [t] and [ɾ] are allophones of the same phoneme. Whatever way you say it, the meaning of the word does not change.

We Texans proudly say 'budder.' :) :)