Allophone

· from Greek

What is an allophone?

An allophone is one of several ways a phoneme is pronounced in different positions, without changing meaning, like aspirated and unaspirated p in English.

Native speakers usually cannot hear their own allophones. English p in pin is aspirated but in spin is not; to English ears they are the same sound, but to Mandarin or Korean ears they are different phonemes. Korean ㄹ is l at the end of a syllable and a flap r between vowels.

Examples

English pin [pʰ] vs spin [p]; Korean ㄹ: 말 mal [l] vs 말이 mari [ɾ]; Japanese ん n before b is said m: 新聞 shinbun [ɕimbɯɴ]

Kungfucius says: Same sound, different outfits. Natives never notice the costume change.