Dictionary

phonology en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /fəˈnɔləd͡ʒi/ (Australia)
• /fəˈnɑləd͡ʒi/ (General-American)
• [fəˈnɔ̟ləd͡ʒi] (New-Zealand)
• /fəˈnɒləd͡ʒi/ (Canada, dialectal) of the US
• /foʊ-/ (General-American)
• /fəˈnɒləd͡ʒi/ (New-Zealand)
• /fəˈnɒləd͡ʒi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From phono- (prefix denoting sound) + -logy (suffix denoting a branch of learning, or a study of a particular subject).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The study of the way sounds function in languages, including accent, intonation, phonemes, stress, and syllable structure, and which sounds are distinctive units within a language; (countable) the way sounds function within a given language; a phonological system.
   • The advantages of such a system [of a universal alphabet], both scientific and practical, were urged, the former in connection with the study of ethnology and philology, and the latter chiefly in connection with the great Protestant missionary enterprises of the present time. Professor [Karl Richard] Lepsius and Dr. Max Müller have devoted much time to the subject, founding their phonology on the physiological principles ably expounded by Dr. Johannes Müller, and published in the Transactions of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. 1854 March, “Notes of the Month”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Review, volume XLI (New Series), London: John Bowyer Nichols and Sons, →OCLC, page 281, column 2:
   • 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. 2000, Wallace L. Chafe, “The Ordering of Phonological Rules”, in Charles W. Kreidler, editor, Phonology: Critical Concepts, volume IV (From Rules to Constraints), London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 219:
   • The Achean, the ancient Malayu and other mixed phonologies possessing a considerable degree of harshness, were thus formed. 1856, J[ames] R[ichardson] Logan, “The Maruwi of the Baniak Islands”, in J. R. Logan, editor, The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, volume XLI (New Series), number 1, Singapore: […] [F]or the editor by Jacob Baptist, →OCLC, page 16:
   • Prospectus of a new work, entitled Pantographia: Containing accurate copies of all the known alphabets in the world. Together with an English explanation of the peculiar force of each letter: To which will be added specimens of all well-authenticated oral languages, Forming a comprehensive Digest of phonology. 1798 August, Edmund Fry, Prospectus of a New Work, Entitled Pantographia; …, [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, title page:
   • 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. 1997, Nikolaus Ritt, “Mutation, Variation and Selection in Phonological Evolution: A Sketch Based on the Case of Late Middle English a > au/_l{C/#}”, in Jacek Fisiak, editor, Studies in Middle English Linguistics (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs; 103), Berlin; New York, N.Y.: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 545:
   • The most interesting applications of the phonograph, however, are to the analysis of speech. […] [T]he point in which the proposed arrangements will be of most value is in the analysis of the inflections of speech, or the rapid variations of pitch which occur continually. This analysis is of the highest importance for phonology, as the inflections are undoubtedly among the principal characteristics of dialects. 1879 October, R[obert] H[olford] M[acdowall] Bosanquet, “XXXV. On the Present State of Experimental Acoustics, with Suggestions for the Arrangement of an Acoustic Laboratory, and a Sketch of Research.”, in Robert Kane, William Thomson, William Francis, editors, The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, volume VIII (Fifth Series), number 49, London: Taylor and Francis, […]; sold by Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer; […], →OCLC, page 301:
2. (broadly, qualifier:sign language, uncountable) The study of the way components of signs function in a sign language, and which components are distinctive units within the language; (countable) the way components of signs function within a given sign language.
   • [A]s with spoken languages, sign language phonologies are built from a repertoire of distinctive features that are assembled following principled combinatorial constraints. […] ASL [American Sign Language] linguistic properties / a. A phonology based on hand shape, orientation of the hands, the location and movement of the hands within the signing space, and contact of the hands with each other and the body. 2014, Gerald P. Berent, “Sign Language–Spoken Language Bilingualism and the Derivation of Bimodally Mixed Sentences”, in Tej K. Bhatia, William C. Ritchie, editors, The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics), 2nd edition, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, →ISBN, part II (Neurological and Psychological Aspects of Bilingualism and Multilingualism), page 352:
   • Sign language linguists have produced many volumes of description of the phonology and morphology of signs and the syntax of sign languages. 1995, David F. Armstrong, William C[larence] Stokoe, Sherman E. Wilcox, “The Universe of Gesture”, in Gesture and the Nature of Language, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, published 1996, →ISBN, page 21:
   • The term ‘phonology’ may seem odd in the context of sign linguistics, since the word has as its root phon – the Greek word for ‘sound’. […] However, sign linguists now prefer the term phonology to emphasise that the same level of structure exists in sign language and spoken language, despite the differences in modality. The study of sign phonology began with the work of William Stokoe, the American founder of sign linguistics. 1999, Rachel Sutton-Spence, Bencie Woll, “The Structure of Gestures and Signs”, in The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 154:

Forms

Deriveds

phonologist · phonologer · articulatory phonology · phonological · phonologically · sociophonology · lexicophonology · phonologize · morphophonology · phonologic · phonologise · morphonology · metaphonology

Hypernyms

linguistics

Relateds

tonology · phonics · phonemics

Synonyms

soundlore · orthoepy

Translations (146)

ia phonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · tr fonoloji (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ro fonologie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cmn 音系學 /音系学 (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ka ფონოლოგია (study of the way sounds function in languages) · sl glasoslovje (study of the way sounds function in languages) · bo སྒྲ་སྦྱོར་རིག་པ (study of the way sounds function in languages) · lv fonoloģija (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ar نُطْقِيَّات (study of the way sounds function in languages) · hi सौतियात (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ext fonolohia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · lmo funulugia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ba фонология (study of the way sounds function in languages) · de Phonemik (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ht fonoloji (study of the way sounds function in languages) · he פונולוגיה (study of the way sounds function in languages) · stq phonologie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ca fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cmn 音位學 /音位学 (study of the way sounds function in languages) · mn авиалбар судлал (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ru фоноло́гия (study of the way sounds function in languages) · lg essomanjatula (study of the way sounds function in languages) · war ponolohiya (study of the way sounds function in languages) · hi ध्वनितत्व (study of the way sounds function in languages) · bcl ponolohiya (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fo ljóðskipanarlæra (study of the way sounds function in languages) · sk fonológia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cmn 音系 (way sounds function within a given language) · tl ponolohiya (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ru фоноло́гия (way sounds function within a given language) · be фанало́гія (study of the way sounds function in languages) · el φωνολογία (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ko 어음학 (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fr phonologie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ta ஒலியனியல் (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ur صوتیات (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ko 음운론 (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ceb ponolohiya (way sounds function within a given language) · ga foghareolaíocht (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cy ffonoleg (study of the way components of signs function in a sign language; way components of signs function within a given sign language) · io fonologio (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fi fonologia (way sounds function within a given language) · nb fonologi (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ar فُونُولُوجِيَّا (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fa واجشناسی (way sounds function within a given language) · gl fonoloxía (way sounds function within a given language) · eu fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · az fonologiya (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ja 音韻論 (study of the way sounds function in languages) · af fonologie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · rm fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ce фонологи (study of the way sounds function in languages) · hu fonológia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · tl tinigan (way sounds function within a given language) · sw fonolojia (way sounds function within a given language) · kk фонология (study of the way sounds function in languages) · nn fonologi (study of the way sounds function in languages) · sw fonolojia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · tl dalubtinigan (study of the way sounds function in languages) · mn авиалбарзүй (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cv фонологи (study of the way sounds function in languages) · mr उच्चारशास्त्र (study of the way sounds function in languages) · it fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · gl fonoloxía (study of the way sounds function in languages) · eo fonologio (study of the way sounds function in languages) · sn ruambainzwi (study of the way sounds function in languages) · scn fonoluggìa (study of the way sounds function in languages) · tg вожшиносӣ (study of the way sounds function in languages) · uz fonologiya (study of the way sounds function in languages) · tg фоноло́гия (study of the way sounds function in languages) · pt fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ar عِلْمُ ٱلْأَصْوَاتِ ٱللُّغَوِيَّةِ (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fy klanklear (study of the way sounds function in languages) · pa ਧੁਨੀ ਵਿਉਂਤ (study of the way sounds function in languages) · sv fonologi (study of the way sounds function in languages) · de Lautsystem (way sounds function within a given language) · uk фоноло́гія (study of the way sounds function in languages) · gv sheeanchoryssaghtys (study of the way sounds function in languages) · br fonologiezh (study of the way sounds function in languages) · as ধ্বনিতত্ত্ব (study of the way sounds function in languages) · bg фоноло́гия (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ms fonologi (study of the way sounds function in languages) · da lydsystem (way sounds function within a given language) · fur fonologjie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ar اَلتَّصْرِيفُ ٱلصَّوْتِيُّ (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fr phonologie (way sounds function within a given language) · sd وايوڀياسُ (study of the way sounds function in languages) · id fonologi (study of the way sounds function in languages) · th สรวิทยา (study of the way sounds function in languages) · mt fonoloġija (study of the way sounds function in languages) · lt fonologija (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cmn 音韻學 /音韵学 (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ga fóineolaíocht (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cs fonologie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ceb ponolohiya (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cy ffonoleg (way sounds function within a given language) · bn ধ্বনিতত্ত্ব (study of the way sounds function in languages) · hy հնչույթաբանություն (study of the way sounds function in languages) · hi स्वनिमविज्ञान (study of the way sounds function in languages) · yo fonọ́lọ́jì (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ka ფონეტიკა (way sounds function within a given language) · et fonoloogia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · tr sesbilim (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ru фоне́тика (way sounds function within a given language) · es fonología (way sounds function within a given language) · pl fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · pt fonologia (way sounds function within a given language) · li fonologie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · da fonologi (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fi fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · my ဝါစဿရဗေဒ (study of the way sounds function in languages) · la phonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · hi स्वनिमविज्ञान (way sounds function within a given language) · sl fonologija (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ast fonoloxía (study of the way sounds function in languages) · km សូរវិទ្យា (study of the way sounds function in languages) · vi âm vị học (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fa واجشناسی (study of the way sounds function in languages) · mi weteoro (study of the way sounds function in languages) · sh fonològija (study of the way sounds function in languages) · mn фонологи (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ky фонология (study of the way sounds function in languages) · lb phonologie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ckb فۆنۆلۆجی (study of the way sounds function in languages) · is hljóðkerfisfræði (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ps غږپوهنه (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fy lûdlear (study of the way sounds function in languages) · sh фоноло̀гија (study of the way sounds function in languages) · vec fonołoxia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · kn ಧ್ವನಿಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fy fonology (study of the way sounds function in languages) · oc fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages) · tl tinigan (study of the way sounds function in languages) · ka ფონოლოგია (way sounds function within a given language) · sq fonologji (study of the way sounds function in languages) · yi פֿאָנאָלאָגיע (study of the way sounds function in languages) · cy ffonoleg (study of the way sounds function in languages) · th สัทวิทยา (study of the way sounds function in languages) · mk фоноло́гија (study of the way sounds function in languages) · pnb صوتیات (study of the way sounds function in languages) · de Phonologie (study of the way sounds function in languages) · nl klankleer (study of the way sounds function in languages) · vi âm vị (way sounds function within a given language) · es fonología (study of the way sounds function in languages) · fi fonologia (study of the way components of signs function in a sign language; way components of signs function within a given sign language) · pap fonologia (study of the way sounds function in languages)