Synonyms and antonyms of Terms in phonetics in British Thesaurus

affricate (noun)

a sound used in speech that is like the ‘ch’ sound in ‘church’ or the ‘j’ sound in ‘judge’

alveolar (noun)

a consonant sound such as ‘l’, ‘d’, ‘n’, or ‘t’, made with the tongue touching the skin behind your top front teeth

articulator (noun)

one of the parts of the mouth, nose and throat used to produce speech

aspirate (verb)

linguistics to breathe out air while pronouncing a sound, for example the ‘h’ in ‘hat’

aspirate (noun)

a sound produced while breathing out air, for example the sound of the ‘h’ in ‘hat’

aspiration (noun)

linguistics the sound produced when you pronounce something by breathing air out through your mouth

assonance (noun)

the repeating of sounds in words that are close together, especially in poetry, for example ‘I tried to light the fire’

back-channelling (noun)

the verbal signals given by a listener to show they are interested, surprised etc

bilabial (adjective)

a bilabial sound is one that you produce using both lips, for example the sound of ‘m’ or ‘p’

closed syllable (noun)

a syllable that has a consonant at its end

close vowel (noun)

a vowel sound made with your tongue near the top of your mouth

connected speech (noun)

the way that speech sounds are produced in a continuous stream rather than separately

consonant (noun)

linguistics a speech sound made by stopping all or some of the air going out of your mouth

devoice (verb)

to pronounce a vowel or consonant without passing air over your vocal cords

diphthong (noun)

a combination of two vowel sounds said one after the other, as in the words ‘find’ and ‘fail’

discourse intonation (noun)

an approach to the teaching and analysis of everyday speech that tries to explain how intonation affects communication

elision (noun)

the practice of leaving a sound out when you say a word or group of words, for example when you say it quickly in ordinary conversation

fricative (noun)

a speech sound that is made by pushing air out through a small space between your teeth and your tongue or lips, or between your tongue and palate (=the inside upper part of your mouth). ‘F’, ‘z’, and ‘th’ are fricatives.

front (adjective)

linguistics a front vowel is made in the front part of your mouth

glottal (adjective)

a glottal sound is one that you make in speaking when you partly or completely stop air as it passes through the throat

glottal (noun)

a glottal stop

glottal stop (noun)

a sound made by stopping air as it passes through your throat. In some varieties of spoken English a glottal stop is often used instead of a ‘t’ sound in the middle or at the end of a word.

grapheme (noun)

a written letter, group of letters, number, or symbol that represents a single sound in speech

hiatus (noun)

linguistics a pause between two vowel sounds that come one after the other, for example in the word naive

intelligibility (noun)

linguistics the ability to be understood when you speak

intonation (noun)

the way in which your voice rises or falls when you speak

IPA (noun)

International Phonetic Alphabet: a system of symbols used for representing speech sounds

labial (adjective)

linguistics labial sounds are ones that you pronounce with your lips closed or close together or with your top teeth touching your bottom lip. ‘p’, ‘b’ , ‘f’, ‘v’, and ‘m’ are labial sounds

labial (noun)

a sound that you pronounce with your lips closed or close together or with your top teeth touching your bottom lip, for example ‘p’, ‘b’, ‘f’, ‘v’, or ‘m’

labiodental (noun)

a sound pronounced with the top teeth touching the bottom lip, for example ‘f’ and ‘v’

labiovelar (noun)

a sound pronounced with the lips and upper back part of your mouth, for example ‘w’

liquid (noun)

linguistics the sound ‘l’ or ‘r’

long (adjective)

linguistics a long vowel is a vowel that is pronounced for a longer time than most other vowels

mute (adjective)

linguistics a letter that is mute is not pronounced

nasal (noun)

a speech sound such as ‘m’ or ‘n’ that is produced mainly through your nose

open vowel (noun)

a vowel that you pronounce with your tongue on the bottom of your mouth

palatal (adjective)

if you pronounce a sound that is palatal, especially a consonant, you pronounce it by moving your tongue near or against the hard palate

phoneme (noun)

an individual speech sound that makes one word different from another. For example, the ‘b’ and ‘f’ in ‘bill’ and ‘fill’.

phonemics (noun)

the study of the phonemes of a language

phonetic (adjective)

relating to the sounds used in speech

phonetic (adjective)

using special symbols as a way of showing speech sounds in writing

phonetic (adjective)

relating to the science of phonetics

phonetics (noun)

the study of the sounds used in speech

phonic (adjective)

linguistics relating to the sounds used in speech, or to the study of these sounds

phonological core (noun)

the features of pronunciation that are considered to be essential for someone to be understood when speaking EIL

phonology (noun)

the study of the pattern of speech sounds used in a particular language

phonology (noun)

the pattern of speech sounds used in a particular language

plosive (noun)

a sound that you make by quickly stopping your breath leaving your mouth and then suddenly letting it go again. The sounds ‘k’, ‘p’, and ‘t’ are plosives.

primary stress (noun)

the strongest emphasis in a word of two or more syllables when it is spoken. For example, when you say the word ‘fantastic’ the primary stress is on the middle syllable ‘tas’. Primary stress is marked in this dictionary.

retroflex (adjective)

pronounced with the end of your tongue bent backwards

schwa (noun)

a vowel sound used in unstressed syllables, for example the sound of ‘a’ in ‘above’. Its symbol is ə.

secondary stress (noun)

British the second strongest emphasis on a part of a word or sentence

semi-vowel (noun)

a speech sound that is sometimes pronounced as a vowel but is considered to be a consonant, for example ‘y’

sentence stress (noun)

the patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables over a sentence

short (adjective)

linguistics a short vowel or syllable is one that you pronounce quickly

sibilant (adjective)

formal making a sound like the letters ‘s’ or ‘sh’

sibilant (noun)

one of the sibilant speech sounds, for example ‘s’ or ‘sh’

silent (adjective)

a silent letter is a letter in a word that has no sound when you say the word but that must be used when the word is spelled or written

stress (verb)

linguistics to pronounce a particular word or syllable (=part of a word) more loudly or with greater force than other words or syllables

stressed (adjective)

linguistics a stressed word or syllable (=part of a word) is pronounced more loudly or with greater force than other words or syllables

stress mark (noun)

a mark that shows which part of a word is pronounced with most emphasis

strong form (noun)

a pronunciation some words have when they are stressed, as opposed to when they are not stressed. For example, the word 'at' is pronounced with the strong form in the sentence 'What are you looking at?'

syllabic consonant (noun)

a consonant sound which forms a syllable on its own, for example the second syllable of the word ‘garden’ when the schwa sound is not pronounced

syllable (noun)

a word or a part of a word that has only one vowel sound. For example ‘son’ has one syllable and ‘father’ has two syllables.

tone (noun)

linguistics the degree to which the sound of a word or part of a word is high or low

tone group (noun)

a group of words that forms a unit in an utterance. All tone groups contain a nucleus where the main stress falls, and may or may not contain other syllables.

tone unit (noun)

a tone group

unstressed (adjective)

an unstressed word or syllable (=part of a word) is pronounced more quietly or with less force than other words or syllables

unvoiced (adjective)

linguistics an unvoiced sound is produced without using your vocal cords. In English, ‘/t/’, ‘/s/’, and ‘/f/’ are unvoiced sounds.

uvular (noun)

a consonant sound made when the back of your tongue touches your uvula

vocalic (adjective)

relating to vowels, or consisting of a vowel

voiced (adjective)

voiced sounds are produced by passing air over your vocal cords

voiceless (adjective)

voiceless sounds are produced without passing air over your vocal cords

vowel (noun)

linguistics a sound that you make when you speak without closing your mouth or throat

weak (adjective)

linguistics a weak word, or a weak part of a word, is not emphasized when you say the word

weak form (noun)

a pronunciation, usually schwa /ə/, that some words have when they are unstressed, as opposed to when they are stressed. For example, the word 'at' is normally pronounced with the weak form in the sentence 'She's at home.'

weak form (noun)

a pronunciation, usually schwa /ə/, that some words have when they are unstressed, as opposed to when they are stressed. For example, the word 'at' is normally pronounced with the weak form in the sentence 'She's at home.'