Prefix · sound · voice
Means "sound" or "voice": phonetics, phoneme, phonics, phonology, phonograph.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
Phono- comes from Greek "phone" (sound, voice) and appears in linguistic and technological vocabulary. Phonetics = the study of speech sounds; phoneme = the smallest unit of sound; phonics = a sound-based reading method; phonograph = a device that records and reproduces sound; phonology = the study of a language's sound system. Spanish equivalent "fono-": fonética, fonema, fonología, fonógrafo.
For English learners, phono- is a key prefix: phonetics teaches how sounds are produced correctly; phonics teaches reading by linking letters to sounds; phoneme is the minimum sound unit that distinguishes words. English has 44 phonemes but only 26 letters, which is why phonetics matters so much for correct pronunciation.
Combines with Greek roots in linguistic and technological vocabulary:
Pronunciation: /ˈfoʊ.noʊ/. The ph is always /f/ in English words of Greek origin. Spanish equivalent "fono-": fonética (phonetics), fonema (phoneme), fonología (phonology), fonógrafo (phonograph).
phono-/ˈfoʊ.noʊ/
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"Phonetics" (phono- = sound + -etics = science): the physical science of speech sounds — production, acoustic properties, and perception. "Phonology" (phono- = sound + -logy = study): how sounds are organised and used within a particular language to create meaning. Example: English aspirated /p/ in "pin" vs. unaspirated /p/ in "spin" is phonetically different but phonologically the same sound.
A trick to remember it
Phono- = sound, voice. Spanish equivalent "fono-": fonética (phonetics), fonema (phoneme), fonología (phonology), fonógrafo (phonograph). The ph is always /f/. Key insight: English has 44 phonemes but only 26 letters.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
How does "phonetics" differ from "phonology"?
The prefix phono- means "sound" or "voice": phonetics, phoneme, phonics, phonology, phonograph. In Spanish it usually maps to fono-.
The prefix phono- is pronounced /ˈfoʊ.noʊ/. For example, "phonetics".
"etics" becomes "phonetics". It is a typical example of the phono- prefix.
un-, re-, pre-, dis-, over-, in-... every beginning you need to unlock thousands of English words at once.