FrathWiki - User contributions [en]

Affricate

2018-12-13T18:31:14Z

Torus:

{{Brokenlinks}}

An '''affricate''' is a phonetic [[wikipedia:Contour (linguistics)|contour segment]] (e. [ts]), consisting of a [[plosive]] (eg. [t]) released as a [[homorganic]] [[fricative]] (eg. [s]).

==Table of affricates==
Note that [[bilabial]], glottal and voiced posterior affricates (*[pɸ], *[ɡɣ] etc.) are unattested outside of particularly fancy conlangs.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! POA, MOA !! [[Voiceless]] !! [[Voiced]]
|-
| [[wikipedia:Labiodental consonant|Labiodental]] || [[pf]] || [[bv]]
|-
| [[Dental]] || [[tθ]] || [[dð]]
|-
| [[Alveolar]] [[wikipedia:Sibilant|sibilant]] || [[ts]] || [[dz]]
|-
| Alveolar [[wikipedia:Dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants|lateral]] || [[tɬ]] || [[dɮ]]
|-
| [[wikipedia:Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]] || [[tʃ]] || [[dʒ]]
|-
| [[wikipedia:Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]] || [[ʈʂ]] || [[ɖʐ]]
|-
| [[Palatal]] || [[cç]] || [[ɟʝ]]
|-
| [[Velar]] || [[kx]]
|-
| [[wikipedia:Uvular consonant|Uvular]] || [[qχ]]
|}

==Phonology of affricates==
Like all contour segments, affricates can be analyzed as single [[phoneme]]s or as [[consonant cluster]]s. Sometimes both interpretations are useful in a single language: [[English]] has monophonemic /dʒ/ (as in ''we'''dg'''e'') but biphonemic /dz/ (as in ''we'''ds''''' ← ''wed'' + ''-s'').

If phonemicity needs to be emphasized (or distinguished - see below) in transcription, a tie bar (/t͡ʃ/; [[X-SAMPA]] /t_S/, [[CXS]] and [[Z-SAMPA]] also /tS)/), a [[ligature]] (/ʧ/) or a dedicated symbol (/č/) can be used.

===Affricates vs. stops===

Coronal affricates frequently result from [[assibilation]] of palatalized stops. They may continue to phonologically occupy the place of stops, eg. in utilizing contrasts such as [[aspiration]] not used on other consonants, or occupying the place of a palatalized stop in a [[palatalization-split]] consonant system. [[Free variation]] between a palatal stop and a palatal or palato-alveolar affricate is also possible ([[Hungarian]], [[Indo-Aryan]] languages). In opposition to this, a ''contrast'' between palatal stops and palatal affricates is vanishingly rare; likewise development of a stop from an affricate is uncommon, but is attested in cases of phoneme system contraction.

===Affricates vs. fricativs===

[[Deaffrication]] is a common unconditional sound change, seen in eg. [[French]], [[Portuguese]], [[Spanish]] and [[Swedish]]. It is somewhat more common for voiced affricates (eg. Proto-Slavic). The reverse change is rarer, but can occur in assimilation of a fricative to another stop (especially a [[nasal]] stop, eg. /ns/ → /nts/).

===Affricates vs. clusters===
A marginal contrast in some languages (eg. [[Polish]]) is one of an affricate (eg. /ʦ/) and a sequence of the corresponding individual segments (eg. /ts/). Phonetically, this will then be a distinction of the stop having a separate release: /ts/ → [t˭s], [tʰs]

Affricates can develop from clusters of stop and [[approximant]] by fortition (and voice assimilation, if required) of the latter. An intermediate may be an affricate-approximant sequence or a devoiced approximant. The dialectal English development [tɹ] → [tʃɹ] → [tʃ] is an example.

===Affricate inventories===

Single-affricate inventories usually feature the plain /ts/, but many also make do with /tʃ/, some even with /dʒ/. This can occur even when

When two affricate places of articulation are involved, almost universally either of them (and most frequently both) will be alveolar or postalveolar.

Non-coronal affricates are quite rare and tend to only occur, at least if contrastiv with the corresponding plain stops, in systems having two or more types of coronal affricates as well.

''(to be expanded)''

Affricates have a stronger preference than stops for being voiceless; they also occur as ejective marginally more commonly (especially more posterior ones: in languages of southern Africa, the velar ejectiv /kʼ/ is frequently affricated as [kxʼ].)

==Orthography==
The letters [[C]], [[Č]], are frequently used for the affricates /ts/, /tʃ/. For their voiced counterparts, [[J]] (when not used for [[Palatal approximant|/j/]]) is also frequently seen for /dʒ/. The letter [[Z]] is in some languages ([[German]], [[Italian]]) used for /ts/ or /dz/. Lateral affricates are commonly written using [[L]] plus a suitable stop (''tl'', ''dl'', etc.) (similarly retroflex affricates as ''tr'', ''dr'' etc.); in scientific, especially [[Americanist]] transcription, the dedicated symbols ƛ /tɬ/ and λ /dɮ/ are also used.

Non-phonemic affricates are almost universally written with the corresponding individual graphemes: ''ts'', ''ds'', ''dth'', etc. This is common practice for phonemic affricates as well.

{{Phonetics and Phonology}}

Accusative absolute

2018-12-13T18:22:52Z

Torus:

{{stub}}
{{Brokenlinks}}

The '''accusative absolute''' is a [[grammar|grammatical construction]] found in some languages. It is an [[Wikipedia: Absolute construction|absolute construction]] found in the [[Wikipedia: accusative case|accusative case]].
==Greek==
In [[Wikipedia: ancient Greek|ancient Greek]], the accusative case is used [[adverb]]ially with [[participle]]s of [[Wikipedia: impersonal verb|impersonal verb]]s. It is similar in usage to the [[genitive absolute]].<ref>Balme, Maurice and Gilbert Lawall. ''Athenadze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. pp 172.</ref> For example:

{|
|-
| {{lang|grc|συνδόξαν}} || {{lang|grc|τῷ}} || {{lang|grc|πατρὶ}} || {{lang|grc|καὶ}} || {{lang|grc|τῇ}} || {{lang|grc|μητρὶ}} || {{lang|grc|γαμεῖ}} || {{lang|grc|τὴν}} || {{lang|grc|Κυαξάρου}} || {{lang|grc|θυγατέρα}}
|-
| seeming good-acc || the-masc.dat.sg || father-dat || and || the-fem.dat.sg || mother-dat || marries || the-fem.acc.sg || Cyaxares-gen || daughter-acc
|-
| colspan=10 | "It seeming good to his father and mother, he marries the daughter of Cyaxares." ([[Wikipedia:Xenophon|Xenophon]], ''[[Wikipedia:Cyropaedia|Cyropaedia]]'' 8.5.28)
|}
==German==
In [[Wikipedia:German language|German]], a noun phrase can be put in the accusative to indicate that the subject of the sentence has the property described.<ref>Duden 4, ''Die Grammatik'', 5th edition (1995), p. 624</ref> For example:

{|
|-
| {{lang|de|Neben}} || {{lang|de|ihm}} || {{lang|de|saß}} || {{lang|de|der}} || {{lang|de|dünnhaarige}} || {{lang|de|Pianist,}} || {{lang|de|den}} || {{lang|de|Kopf}} || {{lang|de|im}} || {{lang|de|Nacken,}} || {{lang|de|und}} || {{lang|de|lauschte}}.
|-
| next to || him || sat || the || thin-haired || pianist || the-masc.acc.sg || head || in the || neck || and || listened
|-
| colspan=12 | "The thin-haired pianist, his head hanging (lit. his head in his neck), sat next to him and listened."
|}

==Latin==
The accusative absolute is sometimes found in place of the [[Wikipedia:Latin syntax#Ablative absolute|ablative absolute]] in the [[Latin]] of [[Wikipedia:Late Antiquity|Late Antiquity]] as, for example, in the writings of [[Wikipedia:Gregory of Tours|Gregory of Tours]] and [[Wikipedia:Jordanes|Jordanes]]. This likely arose when the pronunciation of the ablative and accusative singulars merged, since the final ''-m'' of the accusative singular was no longer pronounced, even in the Classical era. But the accusative absolute is also found with plural nouns where the ablative and accusative are not similar in pronunciation.

==Sources==
<references/>

==See also==
*[[Genitive absolute]]

[[Category:Grammar]]
[[Category:Greek grammar]]
[[Category:German grammar]]
[[Category:Article Feedback 5]]

{{Grammar}}
----
{{msg:Wikipedia}} [[Wikipedia:Verb|Verb]]

Adverb

2018-12-08T17:46:42Z

Torus:

An adverb is a word that modifies a [[verb]], [[adjective]], [[determiner]], [[clause]], [[adpositions|preposition]], or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree and level of certainty; answering questions such as; how?, what way?, when?, where?, what extent?. This function is called the adverbial function, and may be realized by single words (adverbs) or by multi-word expressions (adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses).

Adverbs are regarded as one of the {parts of speech. However, the term "adverb" has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other parts of speech.

*She sang loudly (loudly modifies the verb sang, indicating the manner of singing)
*We left it here (here modifies the verb phrase left it, indicating place)
*I worked yesterday (yesterday modifies the verb worked, indicating time)
*You often make mistakes (often modifies the verb phrase make mistakes, indicating frequency)
*He undoubtedly did it (undoubtedly modifies the verb phrase did it, indicating certainty)

Adverbs can also be used as modifiers of adjectives, and of other adverbs, often to indicate degree. Examples:

*You are quite right (the adverb quite modifies the adjective right)
*She sang very loudly (the adverb very modifies another adverb – loudly)

Part of speech

2018-12-08T17:10:36Z

Torus: Created page with "Beep! I am an empty page! Please fill me! I have been created to show that I need to exist, let me evolve! *Pronoun *Noun *Verb *Adjective *Adverb *some..."

Beep! I am an empty page! Please fill me! I have been created to show that I need to exist, let me evolve!

*[[Pronoun]]
*[[Noun]]
*[[Verb]]
*[[Adjective]]
*[[Adverb]]
*some other stuff

Adverb

2018-12-08T16:44:25Z

Torus:

An adverb is a word that modifies a [[verb]], [[adjective]], [[determiner]], [[clause]], [[adpositions|preposition]], or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering questions such as how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent?. This function is called the adverbial function, and may be realized by single words (adverbs) or by multi-word expressions (adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses).

Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech. However, modern linguists note that the term "adverb" has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various different types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other available categories (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.)

She sang loudly (loudly modifies the verb sang, indicating the manner of singing)
We left it here (here modifies the verb phrase left it, indicating place)
I worked yesterday (yesterday modifies the verb worked, indicating time)
You often make mistakes (often modifies the verb phrase make mistakes, indicating frequency)
He undoubtedly did it (undoubtedly modifies the verb phrase did it, indicating certainty)

Adverbs can also be used as modifiers of adjectives, and of other adverbs, often to indicate degree. Examples:

You are quite right (the adverb quite modifies the adjective right)
She sang very loudly (the adverb very modifies another adverb – loudly)

Adverb

2018-12-08T16:43:30Z

Torus:

An adverb is a word that modifies a [[verb]], [[adjective]], [[determiner]], [[clause]], [[preposition]], or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering questions such as how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent?. This function is called the adverbial function, and may be realized by single words (adverbs) or by multi-word expressions (adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses).

Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech. However, modern linguists note that the term "adverb" has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various different types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other available categories (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.)

She sang loudly (loudly modifies the verb sang, indicating the manner of singing)
We left it here (here modifies the verb phrase left it, indicating place)
I worked yesterday (yesterday modifies the verb worked, indicating time)
You often make mistakes (often modifies the verb phrase make mistakes, indicating frequency)
He undoubtedly did it (undoubtedly modifies the verb phrase did it, indicating certainty)

Adverbs can also be used as modifiers of adjectives, and of other adverbs, often to indicate degree. Examples:

You are quite right (the adverb quite modifies the adjective right)
She sang very loudly (the adverb very modifies another adverb – loudly)

Adverb

2018-12-08T16:42:44Z

Torus: Created page with "An adverb is a word that modifies a ((verb)), ((adjective)), ((determiner)), ((clause)), ((preposition)), or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency..."

An adverb is a word that modifies a ((verb)), ((adjective)), ((determiner)), ((clause)), ((preposition)), or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering questions such as how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent?. This function is called the adverbial function, and may be realized by single words (adverbs) or by multi-word expressions (adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses).

Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech. However, modern linguists note that the term "adverb" has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various different types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other available categories (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.)

She sang loudly (loudly modifies the verb sang, indicating the manner of singing)
We left it here (here modifies the verb phrase left it, indicating place)
I worked yesterday (yesterday modifies the verb worked, indicating time)
You often make mistakes (often modifies the verb phrase make mistakes, indicating frequency)
He undoubtedly did it (undoubtedly modifies the verb phrase did it, indicating certainty)

Adverbs can also be used as modifiers of adjectives, and of other adverbs, often to indicate degree. Examples:

You are quite right (the adverb quite modifies the adjective right)
She sang very loudly (the adverb very modifies another adverb – loudly)

Determiner

2018-12-08T16:39:00Z

Torus: Created page with "Beep! I am an empty page! Please fill me! I have been created to show that I need to exist, let me evolve! --------------------------------------------------------------------..."

Beep! I am an empty page! Please fill me! I have been created to show that I need to exist, let me evolve!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A determiner, also called determinative, is a word, phrase, or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase and serves to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context.

Adjective

2018-12-08T16:37:30Z

Torus: Created page with "Beep! I am an empty page! Please fill me! I have been created to show that I need to exist, let me evolve!"

Beep! I am an empty page! Please fill me! I have been created to show that I need to exist, let me evolve!

Adpositions

2018-12-08T16:35:59Z

Torus: Created page with "Beep! I am an empty page! Please fill me! I have been created to show that I need to exist, let me evolve!"

Beep! I am an empty page! Please fill me! I have been created to show that I need to exist, let me evolve!

Phone

2018-12-06T15:25:44Z

Torus:

A '''phone''' is the smallest identifiable unit that can be transcribed using an [[IPA]] symbol, which is usually classified under a [[phoneme]] (an abstract entity) in the speakers' mind, phones are grouped together as [[allophone]]s of each other (or of the phoneme)

in [[phonetics]] and linguistics, it a distinct sound or gesture, regardless of whether it is critical to the meaning of the word of which it is a part.

To contrast, a phoneme is a vocal sound in a given language that, if swapped with another phoneme, would change the meaning of a given word.

Phones are unspecific to any language and are absolute while phonemes can only be discussed in terms of a specific language.

What is considered a phone or a phoneme is most often not the same between two languages. For example, in [[English]], the difference between the /p/ sounds in "pun" (using pʰ) and "spun"(simply p) does not affect the meaning of the word. thus, [pʰ] and [p] are two distinct phones but not distinct phonemes in english.

In contrast, the same sounds ([pʰ] and [p]) in Hindi or Urdu can change one word into another: फल ([pʰal]) means "fruit" while पल ([pal]) means
"moment". Therefore, in Hindi and Urdu, these words are considered phonemes.

The phonemes of a language are the features of speech that are reflected, more or less, in its writing system, while phones are the interchangeable sounds that lie under their respectful phonemic "categories".

Phones are generally vowels or consonants

A phone is a speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties and serves as the basic unit of phonetic speech analysis.

A phonetic transcription (based on phones) is enclosed within square brackets ([ ]) rather than the slashes (/ /) of a phonemic transcription (based on phonemes). Phones (and often phonemes also) are commonly represented by using symbols of the IPA.

When phones are considered to be realizations of the same phoneme, they are called allophones of that phoneme.

File:IPA chart 2018.pdf

2018-12-06T15:22:12Z

Torus: Full downloadable IPA chart for personal use. Can't be edited unfortunately. But great for reference!

Full downloadable IPA chart for personal use. Can't be edited unfortunately. But great for reference!

Phone

2018-12-06T15:16:08Z

Torus:

A '''phone''' is the smallest identifiable unit that can be transcribed using an [[IPA]] symbol, which is usually classified under a [[phoneme]] (an abstract entity) in the speakers' mind, phones are grouped together as [[allophones]] of each other (or of the phoneme)

in [[phonetics]] and linguistics, it a distinct sound or gesture, regardless of whether it is critical to the meaning of the word of which it is a part.

To contrast, a phoneme is a vocal sound in a given language that, if swapped with another phoneme, would change the meaning of a given word.

Phones are unspecific to any language and are absolute while phonemes can only be discussed in terms of a specific language.

What is considered a phone or a phoneme is most often not the same between two languages. For example, in [[English]], the difference between the /p/ sounds in "pun" (using pʰ) and "spun"(simply p) does not affect the meaning of the word. thus, [pʰ] and [p] are two distinct phones but not distinct phonemes in english.

In contrast, the same sounds ([pʰ] and [p]) in Hindi or Urdu can change one word into another: फल ([pʰal]) means "fruit" while पल ([pal]) means
"moment". Therefore, in Hindi and Urdu, these words are considered phonemes.

The phonemes of a language are the features of speech that are reflected, more or less, in its writing system, while phones are the interchangeable sounds that lie under their respectful phonemic "categories".

Phones are generally vowels or consonants

A phone is a speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties and serves as the basic unit of phonetic speech analysis.

A phonetic transcription (based on phones) is enclosed within square brackets ([ ]) rather than the slashes (/ /) of a phonemic transcription (based on phonemes). Phones (and often phonemes also) are commonly represented by using symbols of the IPA.

When phones are considered to be realizations of the same phoneme, they are called allophones of that phoneme.

Phone

2018-12-06T15:15:46Z

Torus:

A '''phone''' is the smallest identifiable unit that can be transcribed using an [[IPA]] symbol, which is usually classified under a [[phoneme]] (an abstract entity) in the speakers' mind, phones are grouped together as [[allophones]] of each other (or of the phoneme)

in [[phonetics]] and linguistics, it a distinct sound or gesture, regardless of whether it is critical to the meaning of the word of which it is a part.

To contrast, a phoneme is a vocal sound in a given language that, if swapped with another phoneme, would change the meaning of a given word.

Phones are unspecific to any language and are absolute while phonemes can only be discussed in terms of a specific language.

What is considered a phone or a phoneme is most often not the same between two languages. For example, in [[english]], the difference between the /p/ sounds in "pun" (using pʰ) and "spun"(simply p) does not affect the meaning of the word. thus, [pʰ] and [p] are two distinct phones but not distinct phonemes in english.

In contrast, the same sounds ([pʰ] and [p]) in Hindi or Urdu can change one word into another: फल ([pʰal]) means "fruit" while पल ([pal]) means
"moment". Therefore, in Hindi and Urdu, these words are considered phonemes.

The phonemes of a language are the features of speech that are reflected, more or less, in its writing system, while phones are the interchangeable sounds that lie under their respectful phonemic "categories".

Phones are generally vowels or consonants

A phone is a speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties and serves as the basic unit of phonetic speech analysis.

A phonetic transcription (based on phones) is enclosed within square brackets ([ ]) rather than the slashes (/ /) of a phonemic transcription (based on phonemes). Phones (and often phonemes also) are commonly represented by using symbols of the IPA.

When phones are considered to be realizations of the same phoneme, they are called allophones of that phoneme.

Phone

2018-12-06T14:57:13Z

Torus:

Phone

2018-12-06T10:13:27Z

Torus:

A Phone is the smallest identifiable unit that can be transcribed using an IPA symbol

in phonetics and linguistics, it a distinct sound or gesture, regardless of whether it is critical to the meaning of the word of which it is a part.

To contrast, a phoneme is a vocal sound in a given language that, if swapped with another phoneme, would change the meaning of a given word.

Phones are unspecific to any language and are absolute while phonemes can only be discussed in terms of a specific language.

A conglomeration of texts, which need to be filtered.

|||||||

For example, the English words kid and kit end with two distinct phonemes, and swapping one for the other would change the word's meaning. However, the difference between the /p/ sounds in pun ([pʰ], with aspiration) and spun ([p], without aspiration) never affects the meaning of a word in English. Thus, [pʰ] and [p] are two distinct phones but not distinct phonemes in English.

By contrast, swapping the same two sounds in Hindi or Urdu can change one word into another: [pʰal] (फल) means 'fruit', and [pal] (पल) means 'moment' (CIIL 2008). The sounds are then different phonemes.

As can be seen in those examples, phonemes, rather than phones, are the features of speech that are reflected (more or less imperfectly) in a writing system.
n the context of spoken languages, a phone is an unanalyzed sound of a language (Loos 1997). A phone is a speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties and serves as the basic unit of phonetic speech analysis. Phones are generally either vowels or consonants.

A phonetic transcription (based on phones) is enclosed within square brackets ([ ]) rather than the slashes (/ /) of a phonemic transcription (based on phonemes). Phones (and often phonemes also) are commonly represented by using symbols of the IPA.

For example, the English word spin consists of four phones, [s], [p], [ɪ] and [n], and the word thus has the phonetic representation [spɪn]. The word pin has three phones; in that word, the initial sound is aspirated and so can be represented as [pʰ]; the word's phonetic representation would then be [pʰɪn]. (The precise features that are shown in a phonetic representation depend on whether a narrow or broad transcription is being used and the features that the writer wishes to draw attention in a particular context.)

When phones are considered to be realizations of the same phoneme, they are called allophones of that phoneme (more information on the methods of making such assignments can be found under phoneme). In English, for example, [p] and [pʰ] are considered allophones of a single phoneme, which is written /p/. The phonemic transcriptions of those two words is thus /spɪn/ and /pɪn/, and aspiration no longer being shown since it is not distinctive.

|||||||||

Phone

2018-12-06T10:13:04Z

Torus: A conglomeration of texts, which need to be filtered. ||||||| For example, the English words kid and kit end with two distinct phonemes, and swapping one for the other would change the word's meaning. However, the difference between the /p/ sounds i

Phone

2018-12-06T10:12:18Z

Torus: Created page with " A Phone is the smallest identifiable unit that can be transcribed using an IPA symbol in phonetics and linguistics, it a distinct sound or gesture, regardless of whether it..."

A Phone is the smallest identifiable unit that can be transcribed using an IPA symbol

in phonetics and linguistics, it a distinct sound or gesture, regardless of whether it is critical to the meaning of the word of which it is a part.

To contrast, a phoneme is a vocal sound in a given language that, if swapped with another phoneme, would change the meaning of a given word.

Phones are unspecific to any language and are absolute while phonemes can only be discussed in terms of a specific language.

A conglomeration of texts, which need to be filtered.
|
\ /

|||||||

For example, the English words kid and kit end with two distinct phonemes, and swapping one for the other would change the word's meaning. However, the difference between the /p/ sounds in pun ([pʰ], with aspiration) and spun ([p], without aspiration) never affects the meaning of a word in English. Thus, [pʰ] and [p] are two distinct phones but not distinct phonemes in English.

By contrast, swapping the same two sounds in Hindi or Urdu can change one word into another: [pʰal] (फल) means 'fruit', and [pal] (पल) means 'moment' (CIIL 2008). The sounds are then different phonemes.

As can be seen in those examples, phonemes, rather than phones, are the features of speech that are reflected (more or less imperfectly) in a writing system.
n the context of spoken languages, a phone is an unanalyzed sound of a language (Loos 1997). A phone is a speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties and serves as the basic unit of phonetic speech analysis. Phones are generally either vowels or consonants.

A phonetic transcription (based on phones) is enclosed within square brackets ([ ]) rather than the slashes (/ /) of a phonemic transcription (based on phonemes). Phones (and often phonemes also) are commonly represented by using symbols of the IPA.

For example, the English word spin consists of four phones, [s], [p], [ɪ] and [n], and the word thus has the phonetic representation [spɪn]. The word pin has three phones; in that word, the initial sound is aspirated and so can be represented as [pʰ]; the word's phonetic representation would then be [pʰɪn]. (The precise features that are shown in a phonetic representation depend on whether a narrow or broad transcription is being used and the features that the writer wishes to draw attention in a particular context.)

When phones are considered to be realizations of the same phoneme, they are called allophones of that phoneme (more information on the methods of making such assignments can be found under phoneme). In English, for example, [p] and [pʰ] are considered allophones of a single phoneme, which is written /p/. The phonemic transcriptions of those two words is thus /spɪn/ and /pɪn/, and aspiration no longer being shown since it is not distinctive.

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