soundphoneme

A soundphoneme is a concept within linguistics that refers to a phoneme as it is actually produced and perceived in spoken language. While a phoneme is an abstract unit of sound that distinguishes meaning, a soundphoneme represents the concrete phonetic realization of that phoneme in a specific utterance. This distinction is important because the precise acoustic properties of a soundphoneme can vary due to a variety of factors, including the surrounding sounds (coarticulation), the speaker's accent, and individual speech patterns.

For example, the phoneme /p/ in English is typically realized as an aspirated [pʰ] at the beginning of a word like "pin," but as an unaspirated [p] after an /s/, as in "spin." Both of these phonetic realizations, [pʰ] and [p], are considered soundphonemes that belong to the same abstract phoneme /p/. Linguists study soundphonemes through phonetic analysis, examining acoustic features like frequency, amplitude, and duration to understand the subtle variations in speech production and perception. Recognizing the difference between abstract phonemes and their concrete soundphoneme manifestations is crucial for accurately describing and analyzing language.