what
is phonology?
Phonology is study of the sound patterns that occur
within languages. Some linguists include phonetics, the study of
the production and description of speech sounds, within the study of phonology.
The diagram below shows some of the more important speech organs.
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This kind of diagram helps us to
understand what we observe in others but is less useful in understanding
our own speech. Scientists can now place small cameras into the mouths
of experimental subjects, and observe some of the physical movements
that accompany speech. But most of us move our vocal organs by reflexes
or a sense of the sound we want to produce, and are not likely to
benefit from watching movement in the vocal fold.
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| Here is an illustration that shows the place of phonology in an interacting hierarchy of levels in linguistics: | |||||||||||
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