Noun
(linguistics) one of a small set of speech sounds that are distinguished by the speakers of a particular language
Source: WordNetA few minimal pairs like falamos /fɐˈlɐmuʃ/ "we speak" vs. falámos /fɐˈlamuʃ/ "we spoke" seem to clearly indicate that /ɐ/ must be a phoneme, but other analyses are possible. Source: Internet
A different kind of issue is that of the Old Turkish genitive /Xŋ/ (where "X" stands for any phoneme) and Old Japanese genitive /no/. Source: Internet
Allophonic variation may be conditioned, in which case a certain phoneme is realized as a certain allophone in particular phonological environments, or it may be free in which case it may vary randomly. Source: Internet
Consonant phonics patterns * Consonant digraphs are those spellings wherein two letters are used to represent a single consonant phoneme. Source: Internet
A given phoneme may be represented by different letters in different periods. Source: Internet
An archiphoneme is an object sometimes used to represent an underspecified phoneme. Source: Internet