The study of the system of speech sounds in a language or the system of sounds itself.

-Longman Dictionary

 The

study of the structure and systematic patterns of sounds in human language.

-

Merriam/Webster Dictionary

The

branch of linguistics that deals with systems of sounds (including or excluding phonetics), esp. in a particular language.
-Dictionary.com

Add appropriate sounds to make plurals, past tense, etc. Make up new words that sound right.

Allows to identify what it a sound and what is not.

Why is Phonology important in English Language?

Phonological Rules

Phonological Features

Phonology

 Describe

how phonemes interact in the given

environment.

Formal

way of expressing a phonological organization.

Allow

speakers to "translate" phonemes in sounds.

Assimilation Rule
A

sounds become similar to it's neighboring sounds. Anticipatory: Sounds become similar to following sound. Perseveratory: Sounds become similar to precedent sound.

Dissimilation Rule
Sound

becomes less

similar to it's
neighboring sounds.

Segment
Segment

Addition Rules Deletion Rules

Rule

Movement

Phonemes

Phonotactics

Allophone s

Phonological features

Syllable structure Distinctive Features

Minimal Pairs

 One

set of speech sounds that serve to differentiate one word from another.
A phoneme may consist of several phonetically distinct expression. An articulation may be substituted for another without any change of meaning.

/p/ and /b/ are separate phonemes in English because they distinguish such words as pet and bet light and dark /l/ sounds in little are not separate phonemes since they may be swapped without changing meaning

Represented between slashes by convention.

Phonemic Chart
The phonemic chart contains all 44 sounds that make up words in spoken English.

 an

audibly distinct alternative of a phoneme

the different pronunciations of the t sound in tar and star. In English the t sounds in the words bit, flip, and little are allophones

Switching

one allophone for another allophone of the same phoneme doesn't lead to a different word, just a different pronunciation of the same word.

Is a branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes. Phonotactic constraints are language specific.

 Phonotactics

also affects the structure and emphasis of syllables in a language. Nearly every French word, for instance, has an emphasis on the final syllable. In Greek, the emphasis depends on the length of the final vowel in the word, among other factors. When speaking his or her native language, a person is often able to put the emphasis on the correct syllable intuitively, even if reading an unfamiliar word.

use of phonotactics is in language identification.

Another

 Words

can be cut up into units called syllables. Humans seem to need syllables as a way of segmenting the stream of speech and giving it a rhythm of strong and weak beat. Syllables don't serve any meaningsignalling function in language; they exist only to make speech easier for the brain to process. A word contains at least one syllable.

 Here

are some words divided into their component syllables (a period is used to mark the end of a syllable):

tomato = to.ma.to window = win.dow supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: su.per.c

a.li.fra.gi.lis.ti.cex.pi.a.li.do.cious

 Onset:

the beginning sounds of the syllable; the ones preceding the nucleus. read

flop
strap

 Rhyme

(or rime): the rest of the syllable, after the onset.

The rhyme can also be divided up: Rhyme = nucleus + coda The nucleus, as the term suggests, is the core or essential part of a syllable.
coda

the coda in English are often (but not always) a mirror-image of those in the onset .

The syllable structure analysis of the words 'read', 'flop', 'strap' and 'window' are as follows (IPA symbols are used to show the sounds in the word/syllable):

read = one syllable Onset = [ r ] Rhyme = [ id ] Nucleus = [ i ] Coda = [ d ] flop = one syllable Onset = [ f l ] Rhyme = [ a p ] Nucleus = [ a ] Coda = [ p ] (within the rhyme:)

window = 2 syllables

First syllable: [wIn] Onset = [ w ] Rhyme = [ I n ] Nucleus = [ I ] Coda = [ n ]

Second syllable: [ d o ]
Onset = [ d ] Rhyme = [ o ]

Nucleus = [ o ]
(This syllable has no coda)

pair of words that differ by just one phoneme in the same position and have different meanings Examples Sip vrs Tip vrs Zip vrs Dip Die vrs Lie vrs Pie vrs Tie

Phonetic

features that distiguish one phoneme from another

Syllabic Consonantal Sonorant

Lateral

Distributed
Affricate

Obstruent

Labial
Voiced Continuant Nasal

Round Coronal

High Back

Low
Round Tense Lax