Phonetics, [fnɛɾɨks], /fənɛtɪks/
A little explanation of a title with such weird symbols seems in order :
- Phonetics is the science of speech sounds, spelled in ordinary English orthography.
- [fnɛɾɨks] is a Phonetic representation of one way that I pronounce 'Phonetics'.
- (Others include [fnɛɨks], [fnɛ:ks], and [fɨnɛɾɨks])
- /fənɛtɪks/ is a Phonemic representation of the word, using standard American English phonemes.
This illustrates the difference between - Phonetics, which is a natural science based on
human aural perception, human vocal production, and acoustics, and which applies to all
humans and all human languages equally; and
- Phonology
(sometimes called Phonemics),
which is strictly linguistic, and deals with the differences and similarities among the
way sounds are used in languages of the world.