speech sound

American  

noun

Phonetics.

1. any of the set of distinctive sounds of a given language.

2. any audible, elemental, acoustic event occurring in speech.

   “Go” contains the speech sound “o.”

3. any of the sounds of the entire phonetic system of a language.

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Etymology

Origin of speech sound

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

The results are the strongest case ever documented of an iconic correspondence between speech sounds and properties related to our senses of touch and vision.

From Science Daily

The results have implications for efforts to help children with hearing loss surmount initial language delays caused by a lack of auditory input and access to speech sounds before they receive cochlear implants.

From Science Daily

They might say “one, two, three” or “one, one, one” where the number of speech sounds corresponds to the number of apples they see.

From Science Magazine

With their technology, the investigators showed that it's possible to reliably determine the speech sounds that individuals will say before they articulate them.

From Science Daily

Finally, children were asked to match words based on whether they began or ended with the same speech sound, a task essential not only to speech development but also to reading acquisition.

From Science Daily