fonema

See also: fonéma

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [fuˈnɛ.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [foˈne.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [foˈne.ma]

Noun

fonema m (plural fonemes)

1. (phonetics) phoneme

Derived terms

• fonemàtic

Further reading

• “fonema”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
• “fonema”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “fonema” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “fonema” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foˈnɛma/ [foˈnɛ̃.mɐ]
  • Rhymes: -ɛma
• IPA^(key): /foˈnema/ [foˈnẽ.mɐ]
  • Rhymes: -ema
• Hyphenation: fo‧ne‧ma

Noun

fonema m (plural fonemas)

1. phoneme

Further reading

• “fonema”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foˈnɛ.ma/
• Rhymes: -ɛma
• Hyphenation: fo‧nè‧ma

Noun

fonema m (plural fonemi)

1. (linguistics) phoneme
   • 1894, Luigi Ceci, “Sulla questione della gutturale media labializzata nel latino”, in Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei: classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche - Serie quinta, vol. Ⅲ‎^[1], Rome: Tipografia dell'Accademia, section 36, page 401:

     […] la etimologia che noi proponiamo ben ci dimostra l'italicità del fonema

     the etymology we propose well demonstrates the phoneme’s Italic quality

   • 1987, Romano Lazzeroni, chapter 2 (“Tipologia e dinamica del mutamento”), in Linguistica storica, Rome: Carocci Editore, section 2, page 17:

     Il fonema, pertanto, è una unità astratta che si manifesta mediante suoni concreti

     Therefore, the phoneme is an abstract unit manifesting itself through concrete sounds

Derived terms

• -ema
• fonematico

Related terms

• fonematica
• fonetica

Further reading

• fonema in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Lithuanian

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek φώνημᾰ (phṓnēmă). Compare Latvian fonēma.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [foː.nʲɛˈmaː]
• Rhymes: -aː
• Hyphenation: fo‧ne‧ma

Noun

fonemà f (plural fonèmos) stress pattern 1

1. (phonology) phoneme

Declension

Declension of fonemà

	singular (vienaskaita)	plural (daugiskaita)
nominative (vardininkas)	fonemà	fonèmos
genitive (kilmininkas)	fonemõs	fonemų̃
dative (naudininkas)	fonèmai	fonemóms
accusative (galininkas)	fonèmą	fonèmas
instrumental (įnagininkas)	fonèma	fonemomi̇̀s
locative (vietininkas)	fonemojè	fonemosè
vocative (šauksmininkas)	fonèma	fonèmos

Further reading

• “fonema”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2025
• “fonema”, in Bendrinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of common Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, n.d.
• “fonema”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2025

Lower Sorbian

Noun

fonema

1. inflection of fonem:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative dual
   3. accusative dual

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /foˈnẽ.mɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /foˈnẽ.mɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /foˈne.ma/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /fuˈne.mɐ/

• Rhymes: -emɐ
• Hyphenation: fo‧ne‧ma

Noun

fonema m (plural fonemas)

1. (phonetics) phoneme (indivisible unit of sound)

Related terms

• fonémico / fonêmico

Further reading

• “fonema”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma, “sound”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foˈnema/ [foˈne.ma]
• Rhymes: -ema
• Syllabification: fo‧ne‧ma

Noun

fonema m (plural fonemas)

1. (phonetics) phoneme

Derived terms

• fonemática
• fonemático

Related terms

• fonémico
• fonético

Further reading

• “fonema”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10