The words cat and sat differ in meaning because of the sounds /c/ and /s/,which are referred to as

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in a language that distinguish meaning. In the words cat and sat, the only difference is the phoneme /c/ in cat and /s/ in sat. Therefore, the distinction in meaning is solely based on the phonemes. A is incorrect because semantic variables refer to differences in meaning based on context or connotation, not just sound. B is incorrect because tonal morphemes refer to changes in pitch to indicate meaning, which is not relevant in the example given. D is incorrect because syntactic consonants are not a recognized linguistic term.

The Words Cat and Sat Differ in Meaning Because of the Sounds