Phonemizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of converting spoken language sounds into distinct phonetic symbols or representations for transcription or study
2. Transforming speech into a sequence of phonemes to capture pronunciation details in a systematic way
3. Rendering spoken words into their basic sound units as written symbols for linguistic analysis or teaching purposes

Etymology: "Phonemizing" is the present participle and gerund of "phonemize," so its history is that of the verb it comes from. That verb is built on "phoneme," a term from the study of speech sounds. The "-ize" ending, from Greek through Latin, turns a noun into a verb meaning to make or to treat in a certain way, so "phonemize" means to turn speech into phonemes, the smallest units of sound that distinguish one word from another. The "-ing" ending then turns the verb into the form used here, describing the act of doing so.

Synonyms: phonemicizing, transcribing