graphemen.
/ˈɡrafiːm/, U.S. /ˈɡræfim/ Linguistics.
The class of letters and other visual symbols that represent a phoneme or cluster of phonemes, as e.g. the grapheme 〈f〉 consists of the allographs (see allograph n.2) f, ff, F, Ff, gh, ph, and Ph which represent the phoneme /f/ in fun, huffy, Fingal, Ffoulkes, cough, graph, and Philip respectively; so, in a given writing system of a given language, a feature of written expression that cannot be analysed into smaller meaningful units.
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society > communication > writing > written character > [noun] > letter > representing a sound
phonograph1835
voice figure1887
grapheme1935
graphy1955
allograph1961
1935 W. F. Twaddell On defining Phoneme 54 It would clarify the issue if these units might be called ‘graphemes’.
1937 R. H. Stetson in Mélanges Ling. et Philol. offerts à J. van Ginnekin 353 The unit of writing may be called the grapheme.
1951 R. A. Hall Jun. in Archivum Linguisticum III. 117 We now have allomorph and morpheme, alloseme and sememe, allograph and grapheme.
1955 H. A. Gleason Introd. Descr. Ling. xxi. 302 A writing system consists of a set of graphemes plus certain characteristic features of their use.
1958 A. A. Hill Introd. Ling. Struct. 443 The grapheme for /+/ was normally the blank space left between words.
1964 R. A. Hall Introd. Ling. xliv. 265 In the Greek alphabet, the grapheme 〈σ〉 ‘sigma’, corresponding to our 〈s〉, has the two allographs ς (occurring only at the end of a word, before space) and σ (used elsewhere).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1935