音韻(おんいん)

おんいん
noun
phonology; sounds of a language; phoneme
1. phonology; sound system of a language
The study of or the system of distinctive sounds in a language. Used in linguistics to discuss how sounds function within a language.
日本語(にほんご)の音韻(おんいん)を学(まな)ぶ。
Study Japanese phonology.
英語(えいご)と日本語(にほんご)では音韻(おんいん)体系(たいけい)が大(おお)きく異(こと)なる。
English and Japanese have very different phonological systems.
古代(こだい)日本語(にほんご)の音韻(おんいん)体系(たいけい)は現代(げんだい)とは異(こと)なり、母音(ぼいん)が8つあったとする説(せつ)がある。
The phonological system of ancient Japanese was different from the modern one, with a theory suggesting there were eight vowels.
2. phoneme; speech sound
An individual distinctive sound unit in a language. The smallest unit of sound that distinguishes meaning.
「ん」は一(ひと)つの音韻(おんいん)だ。
"N" is a single phoneme.
音韻(おんいん)の違(ちが)いで意味(いみ)が変(か)わる。
Differences in phonemes change the meaning.
日本語(にほんご)では「ら」と「la」の音韻(おんいん)の区別(くべつ)がないため、英語(えいご)学習者(がくしゅうしゃ)は苦労(くろう)することがある。
Since Japanese does not distinguish the phonemes "ra" and "la," learners of English sometimes struggle.

USAGE NOTES:
音韻(おんいん) is a technical linguistics term composed of 音(おん) (sound) and 韻(いん) (rhyme, tone). It is commonly encountered in Japanese language study and linguistics courses.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 音韻(おんいん)体系(たいけい) (phonological system)
  • 音韻(おんいん)論(ろん) (phonology — the academic field)
  • 音韻(おんいん)変化(へんか) (sound change, phonological change)
  • 音韻(おんいん)規則(きそく) (phonological rules)

RELATED TERMS:

  • 音声学(おんせいがく) (phonetics — the physical study of speech sounds)
  • 音韻論(おんいんろん) (phonology — the abstract study of sound systems)
  • 音素(おんそ) (phoneme — a more technical synonym for sense 2)
general
Added 2026.3.4 13:40
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