Phonemes:
* Smallest units of sound: Phonemes are the basic building blocks of spoken language. They represent distinct sounds that differentiate words in a language.
* Not the same as letters: While letters often represent phonemes, the relationship isn't always one-to-one. For example, the letter "c" can represent different sounds in words like "cat" (/k/) and "cent" (/s/).
* Minimal pairs: Phonemes are defined by their ability to create minimal pairs. These are words that differ in just one sound, like "cat" and "bat."
Words:
* Units of meaning: Words are the smallest units of language that carry meaning.
* Made up of phonemes: Words are constructed by combining phonemes in specific sequences.
Relationship:
* Phonemes create words: The arrangement of phonemes determines the meaning of a word. For example, changing one phoneme in "cat" (/kæt/) to /bæt/ creates the word "bat," with a completely different meaning.
* Words are composed of phonemes: To speak a word, you need to pronounce each phoneme in the correct order.
* Phoneme inventory defines a language: The set of phonemes in a language (its phoneme inventory) limits the words that can be formed. For instance, English has a different phoneme inventory than Spanish, which influences the words each language can have.
Examples:
* The word "cat" consists of three phonemes: /k/, /æ/, and /t/.
* The word "dog" consists of three phonemes: /d/, /ɒ/, and /ɡ/.
In essence, phonemes are the raw materials used to build words. Just like bricks form a wall, phonemes are the building blocks of meaning in spoken language.