How Do You Spell BILITERAL?

Pronunciation: [ba͡ɪlˈɪtəɹə͡l] (IPA)

The word "biliteral" is spelled as /baɪˈlɪtərəl/. The word has two parts, "bi-" meaning two, and "literal" meaning relating to letters or the alphabet. Therefore, biliteral means consisting of or using only two letters. The IPA phonetic transcription breaks down the pronunciation of the word. The "b" sound is represented by /b/, the "aɪ" sound is represented by /aɪ/, the "l" sound is represented by /l/, the "ɪ" sound is represented by /ɪ/, the "t" sound is represented by /t/, and the "əl" sound is represented by /əl/.

BILITERAL Meaning and Definition

1. Biliteral is an adjective that refers to a word or a letter consisting of two letters or characters. It can also describe a language or writing system that utilizes a limited set of two-letter combinations to represent different sounds or concepts. The term is derived from the Latin words "bi" meaning "two" and "litera" meaning "letter".

   In linguistics, biliteral typically refers to ancient Semitic languages such as Arabic or Hebrew, which employ a system of biliteral roots. These languages use a basic set of two consonants to create a variety of words and word forms by adding different vowels and prefixes or suffixes. For example, in Arabic, the root k-t-b (ك-ت-ب) represents the general concept of writing, and various words related to writing can be derived from this root, such as kitab (book), kataba (he wrote), or maktab (office).

   Biliteral can also describe certain forms of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, where pairs of characters are used to convey specific meanings. This system is called biliteralism, and it simplifies the writing system by reducing the number of distinct signs needed to represent a large vocabulary of words.

   Overall, the term biliteral refers to the use of two letters or characters in various linguistic systems to convey meaning and create words, offering an efficient way to represent a wide range of concepts with a limited set of symbols.

2. Of two letters.

   Etymological and pronouncing dictionary of the English language. By Stormonth, James, Phelp, P. H. Published 1874.

Common Misspellings for BILITERAL

• viliteral
• niliteral
• hiliteral
• giliteral
• buliteral
• bjliteral
• bkliteral
• boliteral
• b9literal
• b8literal
• bikiteral
• bipiteral
• bioiteral
• biluteral
• biljteral
• bilkteral
• biloteral
• bil9teral
• bil8teral
• bilieral

Etymology of BILITERAL

The word "biliteral" is derived from the combination of two Latin roots: "bi-" meaning "two" and "litera" meaning "letter". In linguistics, "biliteral" refers to a writing system, phoneme, or morpheme that consists of two letters or characters. The term is often used to describe specific types of scripts or writing systems, such as those with consonantal alphabets or abjads that primarily represent consonants with a limited number of letters.