Etymology

allophone

A1L1L1O1P3H4O1N1E1

Today it means: Any of two or more alternative pronunciations for a phoneme. Full definition →

Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ) ← Proto-Hellenic *pʰōnā́ ← Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élyos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*ál͏̌l͏̌os
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓́λλος (ắllos)
  5. Englishallo-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  7. Proto-Hellenic*pʰōnā́
  8. Ancient Greekφωνή (phōnḗ)
  9. English todayallophone

From allo- (“different”) + -phone.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.