Definition

A character or group of characters that can represent more than one sound in a language, like certain letters in English that can be pronounced in different ways.

Example

The letter 'a' is a polyphone because it can sound different in words like 'cat' and 'cake'.

Conversation

I was studying English spelling and came across the term polyphone.

Oh really? What does it mean?

It refers to letters that have more than one sound, like 'a' in 'cat' and 'cake'.

That’s interesting! I didn’t know there was a term for that.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Polyphone → It is formed from "poly-" (from Greek "polus", meaning many) and "phone" (from Greek "phone", meaning voice or sound). The word "polyphone" refers to a device or system that can produce many sounds or voices.

Memory Tip

Think of 'many' ('poly-') voices or sounds ('phone') coming together — that's what polyphone means.

Visually Confused Words