Language Structure and Use
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CTEL Exam
Explain the difference between phonemes, graphemes, and
letters.
,Language Structure and Use
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that makes a
difference in meaning.
Phonemes can be written in two different ways. Linguists commonly
represent phonemes by using the International Phonetic Alphabet,
which assigns a different symbol to each sound commonly found in
languages around the world. A second way to represent a phoneme is
by using graphemes, which are individual letters or groups of letters
that depict how a sound is written in a given language. For example, in
English, the sound /t/ is written either with a single “t” (as in “tall”) or
with two “t’s” (as in the word “better,”). Thus, English has two
graphemes, “t” and “tt,” that correspond to the phoneme /t/. Linguists
have a special term, digraph, to refer to any two-letter grapheme, such
as “tt” or “ch.”
Phonetic alphabets and graphemes are necessary because written
alphabets do not by themselves provide language learners with
knowledge of how to pronounce a given word. Many letters have more
than one pronunciation, and often are silent. In other words, spelling is
not a reliable guide to pronunciation.
,Language Structure and Use
© Mometrix Media - flashcardsecrets.com/ctel
CTEL Exam
Contrast phonetics with phonology and explain how linguists
relate one to the other through the application of phonological
rules.
, Language Structure and Use
Phonetics is the study of speech sounds in isolation, and phonology is
the study of how speech sounds function in a context—in a syllable, a
word, a sentence, or a language as a whole. The speech sounds that
each discipline studies are called phonemes. English, for example,
consists of approximately 44 unique phonemes, arising from the 26
letters of the alphabet used singly or in combination. A competent
English speaker can distinguish between these phonemes. Substituting
one for another will result in a change in meaning—for example,
substituting /m/ for /b/ in the word “ball” results in “mall.”
Phonetics considers how individual speech sounds are produced and
perceived and might ask which sounds are present in a given language.
Phonology, by contrast, would study the ways in which those sounds
are used to create larger units of meaning. Phonological rules are the
ways in which sounds change depending on where they occur and how
they are used in speech. For example, the deletion rule states that an
unstressed vowel is often deleted in rapid speech, as when the /o/ in
“police” is dropped and the word is pronounced as /pleas/.
© Mometrix Media - flashcardsecrets.com/ctel
CTEL Exam
Explain the difference between phonemes, graphemes, and
letters.
,Language Structure and Use
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that makes a
difference in meaning.
Phonemes can be written in two different ways. Linguists commonly
represent phonemes by using the International Phonetic Alphabet,
which assigns a different symbol to each sound commonly found in
languages around the world. A second way to represent a phoneme is
by using graphemes, which are individual letters or groups of letters
that depict how a sound is written in a given language. For example, in
English, the sound /t/ is written either with a single “t” (as in “tall”) or
with two “t’s” (as in the word “better,”). Thus, English has two
graphemes, “t” and “tt,” that correspond to the phoneme /t/. Linguists
have a special term, digraph, to refer to any two-letter grapheme, such
as “tt” or “ch.”
Phonetic alphabets and graphemes are necessary because written
alphabets do not by themselves provide language learners with
knowledge of how to pronounce a given word. Many letters have more
than one pronunciation, and often are silent. In other words, spelling is
not a reliable guide to pronunciation.
,Language Structure and Use
© Mometrix Media - flashcardsecrets.com/ctel
CTEL Exam
Contrast phonetics with phonology and explain how linguists
relate one to the other through the application of phonological
rules.
, Language Structure and Use
Phonetics is the study of speech sounds in isolation, and phonology is
the study of how speech sounds function in a context—in a syllable, a
word, a sentence, or a language as a whole. The speech sounds that
each discipline studies are called phonemes. English, for example,
consists of approximately 44 unique phonemes, arising from the 26
letters of the alphabet used singly or in combination. A competent
English speaker can distinguish between these phonemes. Substituting
one for another will result in a change in meaning—for example,
substituting /m/ for /b/ in the word “ball” results in “mall.”
Phonetics considers how individual speech sounds are produced and
perceived and might ask which sounds are present in a given language.
Phonology, by contrast, would study the ways in which those sounds
are used to create larger units of meaning. Phonological rules are the
ways in which sounds change depending on where they occur and how
they are used in speech. For example, the deletion rule states that an
unstressed vowel is often deleted in rapid speech, as when the /o/ in
“police” is dropped and the word is pronounced as /pleas/.
