Phonology

We were mainly concerned with matters of phonetics - the comparatively straightforward business of describing the sounds that we use in speaking. When we talk about how phonemes function in language, and the relationships among the different phonemes - when, in other words, we study the abstract side of the sounds of language, we are studying a related but different subject that we call phonology. Only by studying both the phonetics and the phonology of English is it possible to acquire a full understanding of the use of sounds in English speech. Let us look briefly at some areas that come within the subject of phonology; these areas of study will be covered in more detail later in the course.