(linguistics) In such writing systems as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a phono-semantic character that provides an indication of its pronunciation; contrasted with semantic (which is usually the radical).

Relating to the sounds of spoken language.

(linguistics) Relating to phones (as opposed to phonemes).

(Should we move, merge or split(+) this sense?) Relating to the spoken rather than written form of a word or name, as opposed to orthographic.