Phoneme boundary refers to the location on a continuum of change in some acoustic property of a sound where the listener 's perception of the sound changes from one phoneme to another.
In the psychology context, the term "phoneme boundary" refers to the point at which one phoneme (a distinct unit of sound in a language) transitions into another. It is the point at which a change in sound can produce a change in meaning. For example, in English, the difference between the words "bat" and "pat" is a difference in the phoneme boundary between the first and second sounds.
Phoneme boundaries play an important role in language processing, as listeners use the boundary information to perceive speech sounds and identify words. For example, children who are learning to read and speak a language must learn to identify phoneme boundaries in order to develop their phonemic awareness, which is the ability to manipulate and recognize the sounds of a language.
Examples of studies in the field of psychology that examine phoneme boundaries include research on speech perception and recognition, reading development, and language acquisition. These studies have helped to shed light on how listeners process phoneme boundaries, how phoneme boundaries can impact the accuracy of speech perception, and how phoneme boundaries can affect the development of language skills in children.
See also Phoneme boundary effect.