graphemes
Smallest writing units
Graphemes are the smallest units of a writing system—individual letters, characters, or symbols that represent sounds or meanings.
In English, graphemes include single letters like "a" and letter combinations like "sh" or "th" that represent single sounds.
The term belongs to linguistics and reading instruction: Children learn to map graphemes to phonemes.
Language's letter system
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- glyphsCarved symbolic figures
- orthographyStandard writing conventions
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
hieroglyphics · syllabary · logograms · ideograms · pictograms · kanji · hiragana · katakana
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- digraphTwo letters, one sound
- trigraphThree letters, one sound
- vowelUnobstructed speech sound
consonant · diphthong · syllable · correspondence · sound · pronunciation · spelling · encoding
Shapes of written characters
- typefaceLettering style design
- fontCharacter style set
- serifLetter terminal flourish
- sans-serifType without terminal strokes
uppercase · lowercase · italic · bold · ligature · kerning · glyph · character
Skill of forming letters
- cursiveJoined handwriting style
- printTransfer text to paper
- manuscriptOriginal text before publication
- strokeSudden brain blood blockage
flourish · letterform · legibility · scribble · script · brush · ink · formation
alphabet
Language's letter system
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- glyphsCarved symbolic figures
- orthographyStandard writing conventions
cuneiform · hieroglyphics · syllabary · logograms · ideograms · pictograms · kanji · hiragana · katakana · runic
phoneme
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- digraphTwo letters, one sound
- trigraphThree letters, one sound
vowel · consonant · diphthong · syllable · correspondence · sound · pronunciation · spelling · encoding · decoding
letterforms
Shapes of written characters
sans-serif · uppercase · lowercase · italic · bold · ligature · kerning · glyph · character · ascender
penmanship
Skill of forming letters
- cursiveJoined handwriting style
- printTransfer text to paper
- manuscriptOriginal text before publication
stroke · flourish · letterform · legibility · scribble · script · brush · ink · formation · tracing
character
Nature, symbol, or role
punctuation · emoji · emoticon · logogram · ideogram · pictogram · diacritic · accent · notation · encoding
graphemesphonemes
Minimal sound distinctions
phones · speech sounds · allophones · vocalizations · utterances