phonetic
pho.net.ic \f*-'net-ik\ \-i-k*l\ \-k(*-)le-\ aj [NL phoneticus, fr. Gk
pho-ne-tikos, fr. pho-nein to] sound with the voice, fr. pho-ne- voice 1a:
of or relating to spoken language or speech sounds 1b: of or relating to
the science of phonetics 2: representing the sounds and other phenomena of
speech : 2a: constituting an alteration of ordinary spelling that better
represents the spoken language, that employs only characters of the
regular alphabet, and that is used in a context of conventional spelling
2b: representing speech sounds by means of symbols that have one value onl
y 2c: employing for speech sounds more than the minimum number of symbols
ne cessary to represent the significant differences in a speaker's speech -
pho.net.i.cal aj