What is defined as the smallest distinctive sound unit in a language?

The smallest distinctive sound unit in a language is referred to as a phoneme. Phonemes are fundamental to the way we produce and perceive speech, as they make up the sounds that combine to form words. Each phoneme can change the meaning of a word when altered, which highlights their significance in spoken language. For example, the words "bat" and "pat" differ by just one phoneme, demonstrating how crucial these sound units are for communication.

Graphemes represent the written symbols of a language, such as letters or characters, and do not necessarily correlate directly with the smallest sound units. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language and can be whole words or parts of words (like prefixes and suffixes), rather than strictly related to sound. A digraph involves two letters that together produce a single sound, such as "sh" or "ch," but it is not the smallest sound unit itself. Hence, the understanding of phonemes is vital in linguistics and language education, as they form the foundation of phonics and are essential for building literacy skills.