:Allophone:

Pronunciation GB: ˈæləfəʊn (adj. allophonic ˌæləˈfɒnɪk), GA: ˈæləfoʊn (adj. allophonic ˌæləˈfɑnɪk)

Related noun allophony: GB: əˈlɒfəni, GA: əˈlɑfəni

A speech sound viewed from the perspective of its membership of a phoneme. Allophones of a phoneme may be viewed as variants of a single underlying abstract phonological unit. An example from English: the sounds t tʰ tʷ are physically different, yet from the point of view of native speakers and hearers of English they represent a single object , the phoneme t. Allophones of a phoneme are typically in complementary distribution with one another.