Synonyms of speech
- as in language
- More from M-W
- To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In
Thesaurus Definition of speech
Synonyms & Similar Words
- presentation
- declamation
- keynote speech
- keynote address
- mother tongue
- terminology
- colloquialism
- regionalism
- vernacularism
- provincialism
Examples of speech in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'speech.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Phrases Containing speech
- figure of speech
Thesaurus Entries Near speech
Cite this entry.
“Speech.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speech. Accessed 3 Sep. 2024.
More from Merriam-Webster on speech
Nglish: Translation of speech for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of speech for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about speech
Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
Can you solve 4 words at once?
Word of the day.
See Definitions and Examples »
Get Word of the Day daily email!
Popular in Grammar & Usage
Plural and possessive names: a guide, 31 useful rhetorical devices, more commonly misspelled words, why does english have so many silent letters, your vs. you're: how to use them correctly, popular in wordplay, 8 words for lesser-known musical instruments, it's a scorcher words for the summer heat, 7 shakespearean insults to make life more interesting, birds say the darndest things, 10 words from taylor swift songs (merriam's version), games & quizzes.
- Daily Crossword
- Word Puzzle
- Word Finder
- Word of the Day
- Synonym of the Day
- Word of the Year
- Language stories
- All featured
- Gender and sexuality
- All pop culture
- Writing hub
- Grammar essentials
- Commonly confused
- All writing tips
- Pop culture
- Writing tips
Advertisement
noun as in talk
Strongest matches
- conversation
Strong matches
- articulation
- communication
- doublespeak
- enunciation
- intercourse
- pronunciation
- verbalization
- vocalization
Weak matches
- double talk
- mother tongue
- native tongue
- oral communication
- vocal expression
noun as in formal talk to audience
- declamation
- disquisition
- dissertation
- exhortation
- valedictory
Example Sentences
Kids are interacting with Alexas that can record their voice data and influence their speech and social development.
The attorney general delivered a controversial speech Wednesday.
For example, my company, Teknicks, is working with an online K-12 speech and occupational therapy provider.
Instead, it would give tech companies a powerful incentive to limit Brazilians’ freedom of speech at a time of political unrest.
However, the president did give a speech in Suresnes, France, the next day during a ceremony hosted by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Those are troubling numbers, for unfettered speech is not incidental to a flourishing society.
There is no such thing as speech so hateful or offensive it somehow “justifies” or “legitimizes” the use of violence.
We need to recover and grow the idea that the proper answer to bad speech is more and better speech.
Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.
The simple, awful truth is that free speech has never been particularly popular in America.
Alessandro turned a grateful look on Ramona as he translated this speech, so in unison with Indian modes of thought and feeling.
And so this is why the clever performer cannot reproduce the effect of a speech of Demosthenes or Daniel Webster.
He said no more in words, but his little blue eyes had an eloquence that left nothing to mere speech.
After pondering over Mr. Blackbird's speech for a few moments he raised his head.
Albinia, I have refrained from speech as long as possible; but this is really too much!
Related Words
Words related to speech are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word speech . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.
noun as in formal speech or address
noun as in manner of conducting oneself
- comportment
- performance
- savoir-faire
- social graces
- way of life
- what's done
noun as in information transmitted
- announcement
- declaration
- information
- inside story
- intelligence
- translation
noun as in conversation
- confabulation
Viewing 5 / 44 related words
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
- History & Society
- Science & Tech
- Biographies
- Animals & Nature
- Geography & Travel
- Arts & Culture
- Games & Quizzes
- On This Day
- One Good Fact
- New Articles
- Lifestyles & Social Issues
- Philosophy & Religion
- Politics, Law & Government
- World History
- Health & Medicine
- Browse Biographies
- Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
- Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
- Environment
- Fossils & Geologic Time
- Entertainment & Pop Culture
- Sports & Recreation
- Visual Arts
- Demystified
- Image Galleries
- Infographics
- Top Questions
- Britannica Kids
- Saving Earth
- Space Next 50
- Student Center
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
- Academia - Definition of the phoneme and its functions
- CORE - The Status of the Concept of ‘Phoneme’ in Psycholinguistics
- University of Birmingham - School of Computer Science - Phones and Phonemes
- Literary Devices - Phoneme
- Social Sciences LibreTexts - Phonemes
phoneme , in linguistics , smallest unit of speech distinguishing one word (or word element) from another, as the element p in “tap,” which separates that word from “tab,” “tag,” and “tan.” A phoneme may have more than one variant, called an allophone ( q.v. ), which functions as a single sound; for example, the p ’s of “pat,” “spat,” and “tap” differ slightly phonetically, but that difference, determined by context , has no significance in English. In some languages, where the variant sounds of p can change meaning, they are classified as separate phonemes— e.g., in Thai the aspirated p (pronounced with an accompanying puff of air) and unaspirated p are distinguished one from the other.
Phonemes are based on spoken language and may be recorded with special symbols, such as those of the International Phonetic Alphabet . In transcription, linguists conventionally place symbols for phonemes between slash marks: /p/. The term phoneme is usually restricted to vowels and consonants, but some linguists extend its application to cover phonologically relevant differences of pitch, stress , and rhythm. Nowadays the phoneme often has a less central place in phonological theory than it used to have, especially in American linguistics. Many linguists regard the phoneme as a set of simultaneous distinctive features rather than as an unanalyzable unit.
- Daily Crossword
- Word Puzzle
- Word Finder
- Word of the Day
- Synonym of the Day
- Word of the Year
- Language stories
- All featured
- Gender and sexuality
- All pop culture
- Writing hub
- Grammar essentials
- Commonly confused
- All writing tips
- Pop culture
- Writing tips
Advertisement
- a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Words are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent that distinguishes the one-word blackbird (primary stress on “black”, and secondary stress on “bird”) from black bird (primary stress on both words). Words are usually separated by spaces in writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent, in many languages.
My mom married at 20, and she mentions the m-word every time I meet someone she thinks is eligible.
Can you express your feelings in words?
Words mean little when action is called for.
- the text or lyrics of a song as distinguished from the music.
We had words and she walked out on me.
Marston, I'd like a word with you.
Before you do anything rash, let me give you a word of warning.
Synonyms: declaration , statement
I give you my word I'll be there.
Synonyms: pledge
We received word of his death.
Synonyms: account , report , message
Synonyms: shibboleth , catchword
His word was law.
- Also called machine word. Computers. a string of bits, characters, or bytes treated as a single entity by a computer, particularly for numeric purposes.
- Also called the Word of God, . the Scriptures; the Bible.
- the Logos, identified with Christ.
- the message of the gospel of Christ.
- a proverb or motto.
verb (used with object)
The way they’ve worded these instructions is confusing.
interjection
“Raising a kid is the hardest thing you’ll ever do.” “Word.”
combining form
the C-word, meaning cancer
- one of the units of speech or writing that native speakers of a language usually regard as the smallest isolable meaningful element of the language, although linguists would analyse these further into morphemes lexicalverbal
to have a word with someone
a word of greeting
he sent word that he would be late
when I give the word, fire!
he kept his word
I give you my word
his word must be obeyed
the word now is ``freedom''
- computing a set of bits used to store, transmit, or operate upon an item of information in a computer, such as a program instruction
- as good as one's word doing what one has undertaken or promised to do
- at a word at once
- by word of mouth orally rather than by written means
- in a word briefly or in short
- an exclamation of surprise, annoyance, etc
- an exclamation of agreement
I am a man of my word
- put in a word for or put in a good word for to make favourable mention of (someone); recommend
when he told her to go, she took him at his word and left
- take someone's word for it to accept or believe what someone says
- the closing remark of a conversation or argument, esp a remark that supposedly settles an issue
the last word in bikinis
the last word in luxury
cold is not the word for it, it's freezing!
- on my honour
- (of a report, transcription, etc) using exactly the same words as those employed in the situation being reported; verbatim
- translated by substituting each word in the new text for each corresponding word in the original rather than by general sense
- word of honour a promise; oath
a word list
- tr to state in words, usually specially selected ones; phrase
- informal. troften foll byup to inform or advise (a person)
- Christianity the 2nd person of the Trinity
- Scripture, the Bible, or the Gospels as embodying or representing divine revelation Often calledthe Word of God
Other Words From
- in·ter·word adjective
- out·word verb (used with object)
- well-word·ed adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of word 1
Origin of word 2
Idioms and Phrases
- (upon) my word! (used as an exclamation of surprise or astonishment.)
When I was ill, they came at a word and took the situation in hand.
- be as good as one's word , to hold to one's promises.
They predicted he'd fail, but he made them eat their words.
Tell your aunt that I would like to have a word with her.
She had no words for the sights she had witnessed.
In a word, there was no comparison.
She told them in so many words to get out.
I said I'd meet the deadline, and I kept my word.
- man of his word / woman of her word , a person who can be trusted to keep a promise; a reliable person.
a woman of few words but of profound thoughts.
a person of many words but of little wit.
He put in a good word for her with the boss.
- take someone at their word , to take someone's statement to be literal and true.
“It’s a long way, so we should leave early.” “You took the words right out of my mouth!”
He paused to weigh his words before speaking.
More idioms and phrases containing word
- actions speak louder than words
- at a loss (for words)
- break one's word
- eat one's words
- famous last words
- fighting words
- four-letter word
- from the word go
- get a word in edgewise
- give the word
- go back on (one's word)
- good as one's word
- hang on someone's words
- have a word with
- have words with
- in brief (a word)
- in other words
- in so many words
- keep one's word
- man of his word
- mark my words
- mince matters (words)
- mum's the word
- not breathe a word
- not open one's mouth (utter a word)
- of few words
- picture is worth a thousand words
- play on words
- put in a good word
- put into words
- put words in someone's mouth
- swallow one's words
- take someone at his or her word
- take the words out of someone's mouth
- true to (one's word)
- weasel word
- weigh one's words
Example Sentences
In other words, the large-scale burning this summer shows that these campaigns have yet to effectively prevent deforestation or the subsequent uncontrolled wildfires in Brazil.
In this example, I went with the word “shoes” as this is a product listing for shoes.
That may feel like a strange word to describe a perennial 50-game winner — one that’s been so good, and so close — with a generational scoring talent.
Think of good synonyms or words connected to the brand, without compromising your Google ranking.
If you mouse over the word, you’ll see original English word.
This is acting in every sense of the word—bringing an unevolved animal to life and making it utterly believable.
She vowed to repay the money—no official word, however, on whether she ever did that.
But news of the classes is spread mainly by word of mouth, and participants bring along their friends and families.
Still other people have moved away from the word “diet” altogether.
Back in Iran, he once got word that the Iranians were going to raid a village where his men were stationed.
Not a word now,” cried Longcluse harshly, extending his hand quickly towards him; “I may do that which can't be undone.
Every word that now fell from the agitated Empress was balm to the affrighted nerves of her daughter.
When we were mounted Mac leaned over and muttered an admonitory word for Piegan's ear alone.
Now for the tempering of the Gudgeons, I leave it to the judgment of the Workman; but a word or two of the polishing of it.
Huxley quotes with satirical gusto Dr. Wace's declaration as to the word "Infidel."
Related Words
- announcement
- information
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Search form
Research and innovation menu, research and innovation, the power of breath: understanding of speech coordination in children.
Editor's note: This article was produced by a student participating in the course J477/577: Strategic Science Communication, a collaboration between the School of Journalism and Communication's Science Communication Minor program and the Research Communications unit in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.
Breathing is a fundamental biological process often taken for granted, but it plays an important role in the speech development of children.
Melissa Redford, professor in the Department of Linguistics , along with Associate Professor of Linguistics Kris Kyle, are working to build a speech corpus called Phrasing, Inhalation and Language Structure (the PILS Project) to discover how children learn to coordinate their breath with language when speaking by first comparing child and adult speech breathing patterns.
"Nobody is asking this question," Redford said. "Kids just don't breathe the same way adults do when speaking and frequently breathe in the middle of their sentences."
Speech is produced on the outflow of breath, a process that expels carbon dioxide from the respiratory system like a deflating balloon. When speaking, people use their breath to create speech sound. When they breathe in, they segment their speech into phrases.
"People understand speech better when natural breathing sounds and pauses are incorporated," Redford said. For example, it can be challenging to comprehend a sentence from an out-of-breath runner gasping for air because the flow of their language is interrupted with abnormal pauses and stretched-out sounds.
The relationship between breath and human connection
The speech corpus Redford and Kyle are working on is a collection of child and adult speech audio files and transcribed texts that will be made available to researchers to study language empirically. The database is like a giant library that contains large volumes of information. Computational tools, including the tools of artificial intelligence, are used to investigate the library and learn its patterns.
"Current corpuses don't have information on where the silent pauses and the breaths within those pauses occur in language," Redford said. "So, this project can be used to improve speech synthesis."
When breathing is not coordinated with language, we hear awkward breaks or pauses in one's sentences. The lack of coordination may also underpin other types of disinfluences—involuntary interruptions in speech—characterized by the repetition of singular words or syllables and the prolonging of certain sounds.
"How you speak and how you express yourself has consequences for your health," Redford said. "If you have an atypical development, and you speak differently, this then impacts your socialization, which then impacts your quality of life."
The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with a rise in developmental delays that might have otherwise been caught earlier and treated in schools, including atypical speech, contributing to more established speech sound disorders in children now than before. Also, learning a spoken language is a socio-cultural phenomenon that depends on the availability of people in one's immediate environment. As a result of facial masks and decreased socialization, young children received less visual input from others when speaking during early development with consequences for speech.
For instance, "We learn where to place the tongue when speaking consonants by watching people's mouths," Redford said. "If you don't see the mouth, you don't learn that distinction very easily."
When one's communication is atypical, that individual may be isolated. According to Redford, one of the most significant ways to improve this is to ensure that children can communicate in a way that provides them with access to positive social interactions.
"Language is fundamental to what it means to be and feel human." — Melissa Redford
And breathing is fundamental to language. In normal adult speech, breaths tend to occur at the beginning of a thought. People's attention and retention are often better when they hear a breath before a sentence, indicating something of significance is about to be spoken.
"The breath is kind of like a signal that the listener can use to anticipate what's coming up," Redford said.
The PILS project is in its first year of research out of three. The study examines thirty 5-year-olds, and thirty adult participants.
One of the assessments the researchers use to collect data for the speech corpus is to test the participants' breathing patterns with a spirometer. A spirometer tracks the volume and speed of the participants' inhalation and exhalation. The test provides the researchers with numerical data on the capacity of the participant's lungs to determine if there are abnormalities in their breathing later in the study. The visual graphics produced from this test create a shape resembling a wave that rises and falls as the participant breathes in and out.
While still in the early stages of building the corpus, Redford and her collaborators are optimistic that their work will be an educational tool for understanding how spoken language is learned and coordinated with the motor system and how this coordination impacts and is impacted by the culture of language.
— Story and images by Olivia Seits for the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation
UNITS OF SPEECH Crossword clue
Crossword answers for units of speech, top answers for: units of speech.
| Clue | Answer |
|---|---|
UNITS OF SPEECH Crossword puzzle solutions
We have 1 solution for the frequently searched for crossword lexicon term UNITS OF SPEECH. Our best crossword lexicon answer is: WORDS.
For the puzzel question UNITS OF SPEECH we have solutions for the following word lenghts 5.
Your user suggestion for UNITS OF SPEECH
Find for us the 2nd solution for UNITS OF SPEECH and send it to our e-mail (crossword-at-the-crossword-solver com) with the subject "New solution suggestion for UNITS OF SPEECH". Do you have an improvement for our crossword puzzle solutions for UNITS OF SPEECH, please send us an e-mail with the subject: "Suggestion for improvement on solution to UNITS OF SPEECH".
Frequently asked questions for Units of speech:
What is the best solution to the riddle units of speech.
Solution WORDS is 5 letters long. So far we haven´t got a solution of the same word length.
How many solutions do we have for the crossword puzzle UNITS OF SPEECH?
We have 1 solutions to the crossword puzzle UNITS OF SPEECH. The longest solution is WORDS with 5 letters and the shortest solution is WORDS with 5 letters.
How can I find the solution for the term UNITS OF SPEECH?
With help from our search you can look for words of a certain length. Our intelligent search sorts between the most frequent solutions and the most searched for questions. You can completely free of charge search through several million solutions to hundreds of thousands of crossword puzzle questions.
How many letters long are the solutions for UNITS OF SPEECH?
The length of the solution word is 5 letters. Most of the solutions have 5 letters. In total we have solutions for 1 word lengths.
More clues you might be interested in
- end of an offer period
- sound evoking "gesundheit!"
- percussion instrument
- california city of the rose bowl stadium
- single combat
- l.a. law notable, once
- dyne-centimeters
- urge forward
- pile of cut grass
- not all alike
- discreditable
- laboratories
- small piece
- Legal Notice
- Missing Link
- Made with love from Mark & Crosswordsolver.com
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Synonyms for unit of speech include speech sound, phone, diphthong, sonant, affricate, consonant, plosive, syllable, vocable and click. Find more similar words at wordhippo.com!
Synonyms for Unit Of Speech (other words and phrases for Unit Of Speech). Log in. Synonyms for Unit of speech. 2 other terms for unit of speech- words and phrases with similar meaning. Lists. synonyms. antonyms. definitions. sentences. thesaurus. phrases. suggest new.
Synonyms for SPEECH: talk, lecture, address, oration, sermon, presentation, monologue, declamation, peroration, tribute
Find 53 different ways to say FIGURE OF SPEECH, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.
Find 84 different ways to say SPEECH, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.
phoneme, in linguistics, smallest unit of speech distinguishing one word (or word element) from another, as the element p in "tap," which separates that word from "tab," "tag," and "tan." A phoneme may have more than one variant, called an allophone (q.v.), which functions as a single sound; for example, the p's of "pat," "spat," and "tap" differ slightly ...
Synonyms for figure of speech include metaphor, idiom, trope, conceit, simile, analogy, allegory, euphemism, imagery and symbol. Find more similar words at wordhippo.com!
phoneme. The smallest sound unit of a language that distinguishes one word from another. digraph. Two letters that stand for a single phoneme. syllable. A unit of pronunciation consisting of a vowel alone or a vowel with one or more consonants. There can be only one vowel phoneme (sound) in each syllable. phonogram.
Word definition: a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Words are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent that ...
Check out the pronunciation, synonyms and grammar. Browse the use examples 'unit of speech' in the great English corpus. ... In Bakhtin's dialogism, the utterance is the natural meaningful and finalised unit of speech, which others are supposed to respond to, that is, others interpret the utterance by situating it in a discursive context.
as a suite. as a team. as a unified. as a unity. as an assembly. as an entire. as an individual. as an integrated whole. as one big.
Synonyms for speech include address, talk, harangue, oration, declamation, discourse, lecture, disquisition, homily and peroration. Find more similar words at ...
launch. galled. humbling. double-quick. field. precipitous. controlled. All solutions for "Unit of speech" 12 letters crossword answer - We have 1 clue. Solve your "Unit of speech" crossword puzzle fast & easy with the-crossword-solver.com.
uncommon unit. n. unique unit. n. valued unit. n. ad-hoc group. Another way to say Special Unit? Synonyms for Special Unit (other words and phrases for Special Unit).
The speech corpus Redford and Kyle are working on is a collection of child and adult speech audio files and transcribed texts that will be made available to researchers to study language empirically. The database is like a giant library that contains large volumes of information.
The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "Unit of speech (4)", 4 letters crossword clue. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues. Enter a Crossword Clue.
air-express. of newspapers, send for printing. comminuted. leviers. unscriptural. All solutions for "Units of speech" 13 letters crossword clue - We have 1 answer with 5 letters. Solve your "Units of speech" crossword puzzle fast & easy with the-crossword-solver.com.
Another way to say Unit Of Time? Synonyms for Unit Of Time (other words and phrases for Unit Of Time).
The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "a unit of spoken language (8)", 8 letters crossword clue. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . Enter a Crossword Clue. A clue is required. Sort by Length.
Find 1,765 synonyms for units and other similar words that you can use instead based on 31 separate contexts from our thesaurus. What's another word for ... unit of speech. unit of sound. unit of measurement. unit of measure. unit of genetic code. unit matrixes. 5-letter Words Starting With. u. un. uni. unit. Find Synonyms. go:
Thesaurus for Unit of measurement. Related terms for unit of measurement - synonyms, antonyms and sentences with unit of measurement. synonyms. antonyms. definitions. sentences. thesaurus. Parts of speech. nouns.
Tonga's Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni underscored the role of police to provide "freedom from fear" in democracies in a speech to Pacific Islands police chiefs on Tuesday, noting the rising global focus on the region by major powers. A top U.S. counter-narcotics official will travel on Wednesday to Tonga, where the first U.S.- Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police dialogue will be held on the ...
Another way to say Specialized Unit? Synonyms for Specialized Unit (other words and phrases for Specialized Unit).