1. Distinguishes Meaning: Phonemes are the building blocks of words, and changing a single phoneme can alter the meaning of a word. For example, changing the /b/ sound in "bat" to a /p/ sound creates "pat," a completely different word.
2. Abstract Representation: Phonemes are abstract representations of sound, not the actual sounds themselves. This means they capture the essential features of a sound that contribute to meaning, regardless of minor variations in pronunciation.
3. Minimal Pairs: Phonemes are identified by the existence of minimal pairs, which are words that differ by only one sound, and this difference in sound leads to a change in meaning. For example, "cat" and "cot" are a minimal pair, differing only in the vowel sound.
4. Allophonic Variations: Phonemes can have different pronunciations (allophones) depending on the surrounding sounds in a word. For example, the /t/ sound in "top" and "stop" are pronounced differently, but both are considered the same phoneme /t/ because they don't change the meaning of the words.
5. Language-Specific: Phonemes are language-specific, meaning that different languages may have different sets of phonemes. For example, the English language has about 44 phonemes, while the Hawaiian language has only 13.
In summary: Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that can distinguish meaning in a language. They are abstract representations of sound, identified through minimal pairs, and can have variations in pronunciation without changing the meaning of a word. Phonemes are crucial to understanding how language works and how sounds are organized into meaningful units.