Here's a breakdown:
* Writing system: This refers to a system used for visually representing language, such as the alphabet or syllabaries.
* Sound or phonological unit: This refers to the individual sounds that make up a language, like the "k" sound in "cat" or the "sh" sound in "ship".
Examples of graphemes:
* Letters: In the English alphabet, each letter is a grapheme. For example, the letter "a" represents the "a" sound.
* Digraphs: Two letters that represent a single sound, like "sh" in "ship" or "th" in "thin".
* Trigraphs: Three letters that represent a single sound, like "tch" in "catch".
* Other symbols: Some writing systems use symbols like punctuation marks or diacritics to represent certain sounds or aspects of language.
Key points about graphemes:
* One-to-one correspondence is not always guaranteed: One grapheme can represent multiple sounds, and one sound can be represented by multiple graphemes. For example, the letter "c" can represent the "k" sound in "cat" or the "s" sound in "cent".
* Graphemes vary between languages: Different languages use different graphemes to represent sounds.
* Graphemes are the building blocks of words: Words are formed by combining graphemes to represent specific sequences of sounds.
Understanding graphemes is essential for learning how to read and write, as it helps us decode and encode written language.