A word of almost phonetic composition is one in which the pronunciation spelling uses exactly the same letters in the precise order of the correct spelling of the word, but one of the vowels used to represent a particular sound may be interchanged with some different vowel letter and still not change the pronunciation of the word.

Over time the new spelling may become as acceptable as the original spelling, as is the case with the pronunciation spelling bosun for boatswain.

This spelling (mic) seems to be a holdover from port labels on old stereos and tape players. Yet people had long since decided that the pronunciation spelling mike, which dates from the 1920s, was more sensible and convenient.

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Noun