phonology definition

English

Etymology

From phono- +‎ -logy.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fəˈnɒlədʒi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /fəˈnɑlədʒi/

Noun

phonology (countable and uncountable, plural phonologies)

1. (linguistics, uncountable) The study of the way sounds function in languages, including phonemes, syllable structure, stress, accent, intonation, and which sounds are distinctive units within a language.

   • Linguistics definition

     The scientific study of language.

   • Function definition

     What something does or is used for. (1 of 10 function definitions)

   • Language definition

     A body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a community and used as a form of communication. (1 of 9 language definitions)

   • Phoneme definition

     An indivisible unit of sound in a given language. A phoneme is an abstraction of the physical speech sounds (phones) and may encompass several different phones.

   • Syllable definition

     A unit of human speech that is interpreted by the listener as a single sound, although syllables usually consist of one or more vowel sounds, either alone or combined with the sound of one or more consonants; a word consists of one or more syllables. (1 of 3 syllable definitions)

   • Stress definition

     A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism. (1 of 10 stress definitions)

   • Accent definition

     A higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it. (1 of 21 accent definitions)

   • Intonation definition

     The rise and fall of the voice in speaking. (1 of 5 intonation definitions)
2. (linguistics, countable) The way sounds function within a given language; a phonological system.
   • 1856, Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, Mission Press, page 16:

     The Achean, the ancient Malayu and other mixed phonologies possessing a considerable degree of harshness, were thus formed.

   • 1997, Jacek Fisiak, Trends in Linguistics: Studies in Middle English Linguistics →ISBN, Walter de Gruyter, page 545:

     Crucially, the neat separateness of phonologies which my account seems to imply is an abstraction and does not mean that the phonologies represented different regional or social dialects.

   • 2005, Charles W. Kreidler, Phonology, page 219:

     Thus, underlying ‘agtus’ was converted first into ‘āgtus’ by the vowel lengthening rule, and then into ‘āktus’ by the ancient persistent rule. This example has previously been interpreted as indicating that new rules can enter a phonology elsewhere than at depth I.

Synonyms

• (study of pronunciation): orthoepy, soundlore

Hypernyms

• linguistics, phonetics

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• tonology