phon

voice, sound

Quick Summary

The Greek root word phon means “sound.” This word root is the word origin of a number of English vocabulary words, including microphone, phone, and saxophone. An easy way to remember that phon means “sound” is through the word symphony, which is many instruments making a “sound” together.

Nothing Phony About Phon!

The Greek root word phon means “sound.” Let’s “sound” out the root word phon in the following podcast.

There are many devices humans use that emit and change sound. For instance, a microphone helps your relatively small voice makes a larger “sound.” A megaphone makes the small “sound” of your voice very large. The word phone itself was originally short for telephone, a device which carries the “sound” of your voice over long distances.

Music, as you might expect, has numerous words with the root phon in them, which means “sound.” A saxophone, for instance, was an instrument that made a “sound” characteristic of what Adolphe Sax, its inventor, was trying to reproduce. The sousaphone was invented by John Philip Sousa, who wanted to create a tuba that members of a marching band could carry while making that big, deep tuba “sound.” A xylophone makes its “sounds” by hitting a mallet on different lengths of wood. Many instruments which make “sound” together is a symphony. All these instruments can either be euphonious or good “sounding,” or they can make a cacophony, or horrible “sound” together.

Linguists as well have made large use of the root phon when talking about the “sounds” made when speaking. The discipline of phonetics deals with the “sounds” of words and speech. The phonemes of the language are the different small pieces of “sound” that carry meaning. And homophones are words that “sound” the same but mean different things and are usually spelled differently, such as “deer” and “dear,” and “sweet” and “suite.”

Enough “sounding” off about phon! Be happy that you didn’t have to listen to this on an old, scratchy phonograph record!

  1. microphone: device that makes the small ‘sound’ of a voice louder
  2. megaphone: device that makes a very big ‘sound’ when speaking into it
  3. phone: short for telephone
  4. telephone: device which carries ‘sound’ over long distances
  5. saxophone: instrument invented by Adolphe Sax
  6. sousaphone: instrument invented by John Philip Sousa
  7. xylophone: instrument which makes ‘sound’ via mallets hitting wood
  8. symphony: group of instruments which ‘sound’ together
  9. euphonious: of good ‘sound’
  10. cacophony: a harsh, unpleasant ‘sound’
  11. phonetics: study of the ‘sounds’ that words make
  12. phoneme: smallest units of ‘sound’ in words
  13. homophone: words that ‘sound’ the same but are different in meaning and usually spelling
  14. phonograph: device which played ‘sounds’ which were written on records

Usage

  • cacophony

    A cacophony is a loud and unpleasant mixture of sounds.

  • euphony

    Euphony is a pleasing sound in speech or music.

  • polyphonic

    The adjective polyphonic refers to something that consists of many sounds or voices.

  • cacophonous

    having an unpleasant sound

  • euphonious

    having a pleasant sound

  • megaphone

    a cone-shaped acoustic device held to the mouth to intensify and direct the human voice

  • microphone

    device for converting sound waves into electrical energy

  • phone

    get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone

  • phonetic

    of or relating to speech sounds

  • phonetics

    the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis

  • phonic

    pertaining to the phonic method of teaching reading

  • phonics

    teaching reading by training beginners to associate letters with their sound values

  • phonograph

    machine in which rotating records cause a stylus to vibrate and the vibrations are amplified acoustically or electronically

  • saxophone

    a single-reed woodwind with a conical bore

  • symphonic

    relating to or characteristic or suggestive of a symphony

  • symphony

    a long and complex sonata for symphony orchestra

  • telephone

    get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone

  • xylophone

    a percussion instrument with wooden bars tuned to produce a chromatic scale and with resonators

Differentiated vocabulary for your students is just a click away.