speech sound
Noun: 1. A basic, discrete unit of sound in spoken language: A "speech sound" is the smallest identifiable sound segment produced by the human vocal apparatus for communication. It is studied in phonetics, which analyzes the physical production and acoustic properties of sounds, without immediate regard to their function or meaning in a specific language.
The term "speech sound" is used in technical linguistic contexts, particularly phonetics, to refer to the raw phonetic material of language. It is a neutral term for any sound used in speech, whether it is a consonant, vowel, or other segment. * Phonetics classifies every speech sound based on its manner and place of articulation. * The infant was practicing the speech sound /b/. * A single phoneme in a language can be realized as several different speech sounds (allophones).
- Contrast with "Phoneme": A "speech sound" (or "phone") is a concrete, physical sound. A "phoneme" is an abstract, functional unit within the sound system of a language. Different speech sounds may be perceived as the same phoneme in one language but as different phonemes in another.
- The sounds [t] and [tʰ] (aspirated 't') are two distinct speech sounds. In English, they are allophones of the phoneme /t/, while in Hindi, they are separate phonemes.
- Phone (n): A direct synonym for "speech sound" in phonetic terminology.
- The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) provides a symbol for every known phone.
- Segment (n): In phonology, this often refers to a discrete speech sound unit within the stream of speech.
- Allophone (n): A specific variant of a phoneme (a type of speech sound) that occurs in a particular phonetic context.
- The light 'l' and dark 'l' in English are allophones of the phoneme /l/.
- Phone
- Phonetic segment
- Sound segment
- Articulation: The physical production of a speech sound.
- Acoustic Phonetics: The study of the physical properties of speech sounds as sound waves.
- Phonology: The study of how speech sounds function and are organized within a particular language or languages.
- (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language