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allophone definition

allo·phone (al′ō fōn′, al′ə-)

noun

Linguis. any of the variant forms of a phoneme as conditioned by position or adjoining sounds the relatively short (a) of mat and the relatively long (a) of mad are allophones

Etymology: allo- + phone

Related Forms:

  • allophonic al′·lo·phon′·ic (-fän′ik) adjective

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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