phonetics

What is the opposite of phonetics? Here is what we hold, with its meaning and related words.

Noun — The branch of linguistics that studies the physical sounds of human speech, including how they are produced, heard and written down.

We haven't recorded synonyms for phonetics yet. You can still read its full definition, where it comes from, or words that rhyme with it.

How to use phonetics

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

study phonetics articulatory phonetics acoustic phonetics a phonetics course phonetics and phonology

It is a technical term used mainly in linguistics and language teaching.

Etymology

The word comes from English phonetic plus the plural-style ending -s, following the pattern of other names of subjects. It can also be analysed as phone, meaning a unit of sound in language, plus -etic and -s.

Full origin of phonetics →

Frequently asked questions

What is phonetics?

Phonetics is the study of the physical sounds of human speech. It looks at how sounds are made, how they are heard and how they can be shown in writing.

How do you pronounce phonetics?

It is said fuh-NET-iks, with the stress on the second syllable.

Is phonetics singular or plural?

Although it ends in -s, phonetics is an uncountable noun. It is normally treated as singular, as in 'phonetics is difficult'.

Nearby words

← Back to the full definition of phonetics