Allophone

/ˈæloʊfoʊn/ noun

A variant sound of the same phoneme, or a different pronunciation of a speech sound that doesn't change the meaning of words.

From Greek 'allo-' (other, different) and 'phone' (sound), literally meaning 'different sound'; introduced by linguists in the early 20th century to explain why sounds can vary while meaning stays the same.

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