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phonetically

phonetically

5 4.6
In a way that uses the sounds of words
  • adverb
  • /fəˈnɛtɪkli/
translation icon : fonéticamente
  • To improve your pronunciation, it is helpful to learn the words phonetically, so you can understand their sounds better.
  • phonetically regular
  • phonetically spelled
  • phonetically regular words

And it's VO Laytar, and it's broke down phonetically for us and my mum, Izzy.

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Examples

  • I don't speak French, so I had to learn a little bit of it phonetically just so I could kind of get recognize the words.

  • Also, students' responses were recorded as correct when they either phonetically sounded out words or read the words correctly as sight words.

    Academic text (2002)
  • But yeah, it's phonetically how you say my last name.

  • I'll just write that phonetically.

  • Thank you, Jeff, for phonetically clarifying your name.

  • I always enjoy when writers will write kind of phonetically so that when you're reading it in your head, you hear the Scottish accent.

  • Contexts used for assessment included counting, phonetically balanced sentences, and conversation.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Can Siri not return an alternative list of people who have similar names, either phonetically or alphabetically?

    Blog text (33)
  • It's correct phonetically.

  • And they're singing Ein Keloheinu, which I actually had to teach them how to sing phonetically.

Synonyms

phonically
vsphonetically
7.0

Using sound or speech to give information

is the technical, systematic study of speech sounds rather than general sound
segmentally
vsphonetically
  • Specialized
7.7

In a way that focuses on single speech sounds like consonants and vowels

is broader, covering speech sound aspects beyond single segments

Surface Forms

phonetically positive

Morphology

phonetically = phonetic (transparent) = phonetic + ally

The adverb is directly formed from the adjective 'phonetic' with a regular adverbial suffix, so the meaning is predictable.

Etymology

The word phonetically comes from the Greek root phon- meaning 'sound' or 'voice', the same root you see in telephone and headphone. So to do something phonetically is to do it 'by sound' or 'according to speech sounds', not by how it is written.