phonetic

phonetic Definition

pho·netic (fō net′ik, fə-)

adjective

of speech sounds or the production or transcription of these
of phonetics
conforming to pronunciation phonetic spelling
of or involving the relatively small differences between related speech sounds, which can be perceived but do not change meaning the differences between the sounds represented by p in “tip” and “pit” are phonetic, since substituting one for the other would not change the meanings of the two words

Etymology: ModL phoneticus < Gr phōnētikos < phōnētos, to be spoken < phōnein, to speak < phōnē, a sound: see phono-

phonetic Related Forms

pho·net′i·cally adverb

phonetic Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

alphabet: All the words of the phonetic alphabet have been hidden in the grid below.
transcription: The principal reason for using phonetic transcription is easily stated.
symbolism: The concept of phonetic symbolism has to be modified.
transliteration: A close phonetic transliteration of Jesus ' Hebrew name into modern English would be Yeshua ' .
spelling: Moreover sloppy speech combined with phonetic spelling can lead to grotesque outcomes.
pronunciation: This revised edition includes new artwork, an expanded glossary and index, and a list of key terms with phonetic pronunciations.

Modifying Another Word

purely: The differences are very subtle, purely phonetic ones.
n't: Why is n't phonetic spelled the way is sounds?
not: National languages are very hard for me because they are not phonetic, and have so many irregular verbs.
completely: Its grammatical structure is not dissimilar to German and it is also completely phonetic.
very: It has a unique alphabet of 38 letters, which only have one sound, making it very phonetic.

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