Allography
A Allograph (Greek ἄλλος ( allos: other, different) and γραφή ( graphe: Font ) ) is in linguistics, the concrete realization or expression or variant of a grapheme ( character ).
Thus, a, aa, ah allographs of the phoneme / a / and the phoneme / f /
Nature
In allographs so it is letters ( grapheme / glyphs) that can be assigned to a grapheme.
Allographs are thus specifically implemented variants of a grapheme.
For example, the allograph is
Distinction
The distinction Allograph - grapheme is necessary, since it may happen that a single grapheme in different ( allographic ) variants expressed (realized ) will correspond to the partially completely different letters. Since the choice of the different variants does not lead to a difference in the meaning of the word, it is in the appropriate language in these variants and not separate graphemes. By systematic investigation of their graphical properties on similarity with other Graphemrealisierungen, but above all by a minimal pair analysis, the letters may eventually be classified as allographs of a single grapheme. In this case, determine font differences, the graphical or the orthographic neighborhood of a grapheme which variant is required. In any case, however, is the question, of which Allograph or which allographs a particular grapheme is expressed, set individually for each language: What is considered allographic variation of a grapheme in one language, its own grapheme may be in another language ( in Germans, for example, plays no role whether I, i is realized with or without point, Turkish, this difference is significant distinctively İ, i besides I, ı ). Often, however, the same variations are also cross-language determine, but then depends on the writing system (eg Latin vs. Greek letters).
A distinction is made:
Free variation
Several variants are equal realizations of a grapheme. So there are in the languages with Latin script, for example several ways to write the letter << a >> ( Print ): as or < ɑ >. The permutation of a variant by the other does not lead to a change of meaning in German, the graphs and < ɑ > are in the German allographs of the grapheme << a >>.
Combinatorial variation
It occurs when the variants of a grapheme are in complementary distribution and there is a graphematic rule, exactly the sets in which (ortho- ) graphical environment in which the one and the other variant occurs.
A prominent example of combinatorial variation in English is s if it is used in blackletter. It must be written depending on the environment as long s or round s.
Another example is the use of uppercase and lowercase letters ( upper case / capital letters - lowercase letters ).