音 韻(おんいん)

おんいん

noun

phonology; sounds of a language; phoneme

formalacademiceducation

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

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 words

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 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

14500/14868_onin