allophone Definition
a variant form of a phoneme, which is pronounced slightly differently from other variants in the same language.
Using allophone: Examples
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with how "allophone" can be used in various situations through the following examples!
Example
The 't' sound in 'stop' and the 't' sound in 'top' are allophones of the same phoneme.
Example
The difference between the 'p' sound in 'spin' and the 'p' sound in 'pin' is an example of allophonic variation.
Example
In some languages, such as Japanese, allophones can change the meaning of a word.
Phrases with allophone
Example
The 'p' sound in 'spin' is a free allophone in English.
an allophone that occurs in a specific phonetic environment, but not in others
Example
The 't' sound in 'stop' is a complementary allophone in English.
a rule that governs the pronunciation of allophones in a language
Example
The allophonic rule for the 't' sound in English is that it is pronounced as a flap when it occurs between two vowels.
Origins of allophone
from Greek 'allos', meaning 'other', and 'phone', meaning 'sound'
Summary: allophone in Brief
An 'allophone' [ˈæləfəʊn] is a variant form of a phoneme, which is pronounced slightly differently from other variants in the same language. It is used to denote differences in pronunciation that do not change the meaning of a word. Examples include the 't' sound in 'stop' and 'top,' and the 'p' sound in 'spin' and 'pin.' Allophones can be classified as free or complementary, and are governed by allophonic rules.
