phonetics

phonetics
The study of the characteristics of human sounds, especially those used in speech. Although phonetics is probably the least interesting branch of linguistics to a philosopher, the discovery that individual significant sounds are not physically definable, but exist in context and in contrast with others, was a major impetus to structuralism in many areas. The phoneme is the minimal unit in the sound system of a language.

Philosophy dictionary. . 2011.

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  • Phonetics — (from the Greek φωνή ( phonê ) sound or voice ) is the study of the physical sounds of human speech. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds (phones), and the processes of their physiological production, auditory reception,… …   Wikipedia

  • phonetics — [fō net′iks, fənet′iks] n. [see PHONETIC] 1. the study of speech sounds, their production and combination, and their representation by written symbols 2. the description and analysis of the sounds of a particular language [the phonetics of… …   English World dictionary

  • Phonetics — Pho*net ics, n. 1. The doctrine or science of sounds; especially those of the human voice; phonology. [1913 Webster] 2. The art of representing vocal sounds by signs and written characters. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • phonetics — (n.) scientific study of speech, 1841, from PHONETIC (Cf. phonetic); also see ICS (Cf. ics) …   Etymology dictionary

  • phonetics — ► PLURAL NOUN (treated as sing. ) ▪ the study and classification of speech sounds …   English terms dictionary

  • phonetics — /feuh net iks, foh /, n. (used with a sing. v.) 1. the science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription. Cf. acoustic phonetics, articulatory phonetics,… …   Universalium

  • phonetics — Synonyms and related words: ablaut, acoustic phonetics, articulatory phonetics, audiometer, auriscope, auriscopy, betacism, bowwow theory, cacography, comparative linguistics, derivation, descriptive linguistics, dialectology, dingdong theory,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • phonetics — [[t]fəne̱tɪks[/t]] (The form phonetic is used as a modifier.) 1) N UNCOUNT In linguistics, phonetics is the study of speech sounds. 2) ADJ: usu ADJ n Phonetic means relating to the sound of a word or to the sounds that are used in languages.… …   English dictionary

  • Phonetics departments at universities — The following universities have phonetics departments:* University of Cambridge (Head of Department: Professor Francis Nolan) * * University College London (Phonetics and Linguistics) * University of Helsinki, Finland (Department of Speech… …   Wikipedia

  • phonetics — noun plural but singular in construction Date: 1836 1. the system of speech sounds of a language or group of languages 2. a. the study and systematic classification of the sounds made in spoken utterance b. the practical application of this… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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