phonetics

[fuh-net-iks, foh-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR phonetics ON THESAURUS.COM

noun (used with a singular verb)

the science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription.Compare acoustic phonetics, articulatory phonetics, auditory phonetics, physiological phonetics.

the phonetic system or the body of phonetic facts of a particular language.

the symbols used to represent the speech sounds of a language.

Origin of phonetics

First recorded in 1835–45; see origin at phonetic, -ics

phonetic

[fuh-net-ik, foh-]

adjective

Also pho·net·i·cal. of or relating to speech sounds, their production, or their transcription in written symbols.

corresponding to pronunciation: phonetic transcription.

agreeing with pronunciation: phonetic spelling.

concerning or involving the discrimination of nondistinctive elements of a language. In English, certain phonological features, as length and aspiration, are phonetic but not phonemic.

noun

(in Chinese writing) a written element that represents a sound and is used in combination with a radical to form a character.

Origin of phonetic

1820–30; < New Latin phōnēticus < Greek phōnētikós vocal, equivalent to phōnēt(ós) to be spoken (verbid of phōneîn to speak) + -ikos -ic

Related formspho·net·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·pho·net·ic, adjectivenon·pho·net·i·cal, adjectivenon·pho·net·i·cal·ly, adverbun·pho·net·ic, adjectiveun·pho·net·i·cal, adjectiveun·pho·net·i·cal·ly, adverb

Can be confusedfanatic phonetic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for phonetics

utterance, accent, diction, enunciation, articulation, twang, elocution, speech, drawl, phonetics, phonology, syllabification, phonemics, orthoepy

Examples from the Web for phonetics

Contemporary Examples of phonetics

It was a small step in learning to stick to my guns, but a leap in my comprehension of phonetics.
‘Sesame Street’ Is Middle-Aged and Awesome
Emily Shire
November 10, 2014
Almost all French speakers have to do a serious amount of self-study to become conversant, especially when it comes to phonetics.
Why Can’t France Learn English?
David Sessions
March 9, 2013

Historical Examples of phonetics

In its phonetics, it possesses six elements which to the Spaniards were new.
The Maya Chronicles
Various
Sussex men are curiously intolerant of the phonetics of orthography.
Highways & Byways in Sussex
E.V. Lucas
(a) Phonetics, which teaches us to recognize and to reproduce sounds and tones.
The Principles of Language-Study
Harold E. Palmer
How can we combine a study of phonetics with a study of orthography?
The Principles of Language-Study
Harold E. Palmer
Jones is lecturer in phonetics at University College, London.
The American Language
Henry L. Mencken

British Dictionary definitions for phonetics

phonetics

noun

(functioning as singular) the science concerned with the study of speech processes, including the production, perception, and analysis of speech sounds from both an acoustic and a physiological point of view. This science, though capable of being applied to language studies, technically excludes linguistic considerationsCompare phonology

phonetic

adjective

of or relating to phonetics

denoting any perceptible distinction between one speech sound and another, irrespective of whether the sounds are phonemes or allophonesCompare phonemic (def. 2)

conforming to pronunciationphonetic spelling

Derived Formsphonetically, adverb

Word Origin for phonetic

C19: from New Latin phōnēticus, from Greek phōnētikos, from phōnein to make sounds, speak

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for phonetics

"scientific study of speech," 1841, from phonetic; also see -ics.

phonetic

adj.

"representing vocal sounds," 1803, from Modern Latin phoneticus (1797), from Greek phonetikos "vocal," from phonetos "to be spoken, utterable," verbal adjective of phonein "to speak clearly, utter," from phone "sound, voice" (see fame (n.)).

phonetics in Medicine

phonetics

[fə-nĕt′ĭks]

n.

The branch of linguistics that deals with the sounds of speech and their production, combination, description, and representation by written symbols.

phonetic

[fə-nĕt′ĭk]

adj.

Of or relating to phonetics.

Representing the sounds of speech with a set of distinct symbols, each designating a single sound.