What is the smallest unit of sound in a language?

What is the smallest unit of sound in a language?

• A. A morpheme
• B. A phoneme
• C. A sociolect
• D. A lexical item

Answer: (B)

The correct answer is that the smallest unit of sound in a language is a phoneme. Phonemes are the distinct units of sound that can distinguish meaning in a language. For example, in English, the words "bat" and "pat" differ only by the initial phoneme /b/ and /p/, which changes the meaning of the word. Understanding phonemes is crucial for the study of linguistics and language development because they form the foundation of spoken communication. They combine in various ways to create larger units of meaning, such as morphemes and words, but by themselves, they do not carry meaning. In contrast, a morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of language, which can be a word or a part of a word (like a prefix or suffix). A sociolect refers to a particular form of a language that is characteristic of a social group. A lexical item is a term that refers to a single word or a group of words that function as a unit in conveying meaning. All these options are relevant to language but do not represent the fundamental sound unit as accurately as a phoneme does.

The correct answer is that the smallest unit of sound in a language is a phoneme. Phonemes are the distinct units of sound that can distinguish meaning in a language. For example, in English, the words "bat" and "pat" differ only by the initial phoneme /b/ and /p/, which changes the meaning of the word.

Understanding phonemes is crucial for the study of linguistics and language development because they form the foundation of spoken communication. They combine in various ways to create larger units of meaning, such as morphemes and words, but by themselves, they do not carry meaning.

In contrast, a morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of language, which can be a word or a part of a word (like a prefix or suffix). A sociolect refers to a particular form of a language that is characteristic of a social group. A lexical item is a term that refers to a single word or a group of words that function as a unit in conveying meaning. All these options are relevant to language but do not represent the fundamental sound unit as accurately as a phoneme does.