Phonemes are:

• A. Letters of the alphabet
• B. Sounds represented by letters in the alphabet
• C. Punctuation marks
• D. Meanings of words

Answer: (B)

Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in speech that can change the meaning of a word. They’re the actual sounds you hear, such as the /k/, /æ/, and /t/ in “cat.” In writing, letters are symbols that represent these sounds, and the same sound can be written with different letters (for example, the /f/ sound can be f, ph, or ff). That’s why the description “sounds represented by letters in the alphabet” is the best fit. The other ideas describe things unrelated to sound: letters are symbols for writing, punctuation marks are for structuring text, and meanings of words relate to semantics, not sound.