phonophoric

P3H4O1N1O1P3H4O1R1I1C3

adjective

Sound-bearing; said of certain characters in otherwise ideographic languages.

Scrabble 23
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Meanings

adjectivephonophoric (not comparable)
  1. not comparablehuman sciencesSound-bearing; said of certain characters in otherwise ideographic languages.

    The graphic component in a character that plays a phonetic role is called phonophoric, and the one that plays a semantic role is called signific.

    2016, Haeree Park, The Writing System of Scribe Zhou: Evidence from Late Pre-imperial Chinese Manuscripts and Inscriptions (5th-3rd Centuries BCE)

Origin

From phono- + -phore + -ic.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

phonophoric. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phonophoric

MLA

“phonophoric.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phonophoric. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phonophoric,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phonophoric.

Source: phonophoric on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.