What term denotes the smallest unit of written language that represents a sound?

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Multiple Choice

What term denotes the smallest unit of written language that represents a sound?

A grapheme is the smallest unit of written language that represents a sound. It can be a single letter like t or a combination of letters such as sh that together stand for one sound. This distinction matters because the phoneme is the sound itself in speech, not its written form. Morphemes are units of meaning, not sound, and allographs are different shapes of the same grapheme. So the written symbol that encodes a sound, whether one letter or a digraph, is a grapheme.

A grapheme is the smallest unit of written language that represents a sound. It can be a single letter like t or a combination of letters such as sh that together stand for one sound. This distinction matters because the phoneme is the sound itself in speech, not its written form. Morphemes are units of meaning, not sound, and allographs are different shapes of the same grapheme. So the written symbol that encodes a sound, whether one letter or a digraph, is a grapheme.

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