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phonetics

/fəˈnɛɾɪks/
/fəˈnɛtɪks/
IPA guide

If you're fascinated with the sounds that make up various parts of human speech, you might want to study phonetics, which focuses on these sounds.

Phonetics is a field of study that examines the sounds in speech — the way they're made, how they're heard, and how they make up speech and language. It's one branch of linguistics, along with grammar, syntax, and other subjects. The word phonetics has been used in English since the 1800s, and it comes from the Greek phonetikos, "vocal," which in turn has the root word phone, "voice or sound."

Definitions of phonetics
  1. noun
    the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis
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    type of:
    acoustics, phonics
    the study of the physical properties of sound
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