phonetic alphabet
1
4.9
- noun
- /fəˈnɛtɪk ˈælfəˌbɛt/
- Specialized
:
alfabeto fonético
- What is the phonetic alphabet word for Q?
Examples
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All right, relay it to us in the phonetic alphabet.
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Next question, In the NATO phonetic alphabet, what word represents the letter T?
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There are a ton of cognates in Spanish, and that, coupled with a phonetic alphabet, does make for pretty easy reading for Americans.
Blog text (25) -
The phonetic alphabet helps people communicate clearly over the phone.
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When spelling out words for clarity, I use the phonetic alphabet to avoid confusion.
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In the phonetic alphabet, each letter has a specific word, like 'Alpha' for A and 'Bravo' for B.
Synonyms
A set of letters that show speech sounds like the International Phonetic Alphabet
A writing system where symbols show speech sounds
A system that uses letters to show the separate sounds of a language
A writing system that uses letters to show spoken sounds
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an alphabet representing speech sounds' is directly and transparently composed from 'phonetic' (relating to speech sounds) + 'alphabet' (set of letters). This is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common compositional pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Phonetic alphabet comes from the words phonetic (about speech sounds) and alphabet (a set of letters). One popular idea is that language experts made a special set of symbols so each sound has its own sign, so anyone can read how a word should be said — that's why it helps with 'pronunciation'.