allophone

English

Etymology

From allo- (“different”) +‎ -phone, coined by Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæləˌfəʊn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæləˌfoʊn/

Noun

allophone (plural allophones)

1. (phonology) Any of two or more alternative pronunciations for a phoneme.

   [ʋ] is occasionally considered to be an allophone of /v/

   • 2003, Mikhail Sergeevich Andronov, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag (→ISBN), page 33:

     In the former the bilabial phone forms an allophone of the phoneme /v/ in word-final position after /a/ and an allophone of the phoneme /u/ when it is preceded by an obstruent and followed by /a/; […]

2. (Canada, strict) A person whose mother tongue is neither English nor French.
3. (Canada) A person whose mother tongue is one other than that spoken by the majority.

Derived terms

• allophonic
• allophonics
• allophony

Translations

alternative pronunciation for a phoneme

• Armenian: ենթահնչույթ (hy) (entʿahnčʿuytʿ), ալլոֆոն (hy) (allofon)
• Catalan: al·lòfon m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 同位異音, 同位异音 (tóngwèi yìyīn)

• Dutch: allofoon (nl), foonvariant, stemvariant
• Esperanto: alofono
• Finnish: allofoni (fi)
• French: allophone (fr) m
• Galician: alófono (gl) m
• German: Allophon (de) n, Allofon n, Phonemvariante f, Fonemvariante f, Lautvariante f
• Irish: allafón m
• Italian: allofono m, variante combinatoria

• Japanese: 異音 (いおん, ion)
• Korean: 이음 (ko) (ieum) (異音)
• Polish: alofon m
• Portuguese: alófono m
• Russian: аллофо́н (ru) m (allofón)
• Serbo-Croatian: alofon m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: alofon m

• Spanish: alófono (es) m
• Swedish: allofon (sv) c
• Vietnamese: tha âm vị, tha âm

person whose mother tongue is neither English nor French

• French: allophone (fr) m or f
• German: Allophoner m, Allophone (de) f

• Spanish: alófono (es) m, alófona f

person whose mother tongue is one other than that spoken by the majority

Adjective

allophone (comparative more allophone, superlative most allophone)

1. (Canada) That which is of a language neither English nor French.
   • 2010, Charles Boberg, The English Language in Canada: Status, History and Comparative Analysis, Cambridge University Press (→ISBN), page 23:

     In every case the allophone population is vastly larger than the proportion of francophones, which ranges from 4.2 percent […] from other parts of Canada more than international immigration from abroad: despite a growing allophone presence, […]

   • 2010, Statistics Canada, Canada Year (→ISBN)

     As immigration increases from different parts of the world, the linguistic makeup of Canada changes. In 2006, the allophone population— individuals whose mother tongue is neither English nor French– totalled 6.3 million, […]

2. (Canada) That which is of a language other than that spoken by the majority.

Translations

of a language neither English nor French

• French: allophone (fr)
• German: allophon

• Spanish: alófono (es)

of a language other than that spoken by the majority

See also

• complementary distribution