"of or pertaining to phonemes or phonemic theory," 1933, from phoneme + -ic. Related: Phonemics (1936); phonemically.
Entries linking to phonemic
phoneme n.
"distinctive sound or group of sounds," 1889, from French phonème, from Greek phōnēma "a sound made, voice," from phōnein "to sound or speak," from phōnē "sound, voice" (from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say"). Related: Phonematic.
-ic
Middle English -ik, -ick, word-forming element making adjectives, "having to do with, having the nature of, being, made of, caused by, similar to," from French -ique and directly from Latin -icus or from cognate Greek -ikos "in the manner of; pertaining to." From PIE adjective suffix *-(i)ko, which also yielded Slavic -isku, adjectival suffix indicating origin, the source of the -sky (Russian -skii) in many surnames. In chemistry, indicating a higher valence than names in -ous (first in benzoic, 1791).
In Middle English and after often spelled -ick, -ike, -ique. Variant forms in -ick (critick, ethick) were common in early Modern English and survived in English dictionaries into early 19c. This spelling was supported by Johnson but opposed by Webster, who prevailed.
emic adj.
"of or pertaining to analysis of cultural phenomena from the inside," 1954, from phonemic.