Most speakers of English, especially non-native speakers, confuse many words in English. The reason is not far-fetched: some of these words share certain similarities. For instance, some of these commonly confused words have similar sounds, some have similar spellings while some even have similar sounds, similar spellings but different meanings. (See Homonyms, Homophones and Homographs). The words ‘aural’ and ‘oral’ belong to this category and this post, ‘Aural vs Oral: Meaning, Usage and Examples’, addresses this confusion. Let us examine the two words closely…

Both words sound the same way and they belong to the category known as homophones. Let us check the meanings of each word and their usages with accompanying examples for clarifications.

Aural: A Definition and Explanation

Aural has to do with hearing or sound; that which relates to the ear or hearing. It means ‘of or pertaining to hearing or the ear’. It is an adjective and basically has to do with hearing. Let’s see some examples:

A mouse is an animal with a very sensitive aural apparatus.

There are various aural effects that precede a migraine headache.

The new musical has a visual and aural appeal.

The extent to which our visual and aural perceptions of painting and music depend on our prior knowledge of the pieces.

Oral: A Definition and Explanation

Oral, on the other hand, has to do with the mouth. As an adjective, it means ‘using speech (what is expressed in spoken form) rather than writing…of or relating to or affecting or for use in the mouth’. In anatomy, it means ‘of or involving the mouth or mouth region or the surface on which the mouth is located’; while in psychoanalysis, it refers to ‘a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated in the mouth’. In phonetics, oral refers to the speech sounds that are produced by means of airstream that comes out from the mouth only with the sealing of the nasal cavity.

Read more: https://akademia.com.ng/aural-vs-oral-meaning-usage-examples/