SPEECH SOUND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does speech sound mean? 

• SPEECH SOUND (noun)
  The noun SPEECH SOUND has 1 sense:

1. (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language

  Familiarity information: SPEECH SOUND used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPEECH SOUND (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

phone; sound; speech sound

Hypernyms ("speech sound" is a kind of...):

language unit; linguistic unit (one of the natural units into which linguistic messages can be analyzed)

Domain category:

phonetics (the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speech sound"):

phoneme ((linguistics) one of a small set of speech sounds that are distinguished by the speakers of a particular language)

vowel; vowel sound (a speech sound made with the vocal tract open)

glide; semivowel (a vowellike sound that serves as a consonant)

consonant (a speech sound that is not a vowel)

orinasal; orinasal phone (a speech sound produced with both the oral and nasal passages open (as French nasal vowels))

sonant; voiced sound (a speech sound accompanied by sound from the vocal cords)

Holonyms ("speech sound" is a part of...):

utterance; vocalization (the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication)

 Context examples 

Prior research documented that 4-month-old infants successfully abstract rules from speech sounds and tone sequences, but failed to abstract rules in the visual domain, such as from patterns of objects.

(Infants Are Able to Learn Abstract Rules Visually, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A speech sound that is distinguished by the speakers of a particular language.

(Phoneme, NCI Thesaurus)

A disorder characterized by the failure to use developmentally expected speech sounds that are appropriate for the individual's age (i.e., the individual makes errors in sound production or use or omits sounds such as final consonants).

(Phonological Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)