What is the Meaning of: Phonology | Concept and Definition of: Phonology
Phonology is a branch of Linguistics which studies the phonic elements, taking account of their distinctive and functional value. Phonetics studies the acoustic nature and physiological sounds while phonology describes the way sounds function at a level abstract or mental.
Experts give the name of minimal pairs to the words opposed (with different meanings) which differ only by a single sound. Two minimal pairs differ in their underlying phonemic representation in at least a phoneme. Here are a few examples: 'all' and 'sweet', or ' do you sell?' and 'sold '.
It is worth mentioning that a phoneme is characterized by a set of phonetic characteristics although its concrete pronunciation depends on the context insofar as it establishes its other eminent phonetic features. In all languages, most of the phonemes are sous-spécifiés.
Among the main phonetic characteristics taken into account to distinguish phonemes, there are noted their consonanticite, their syllabicite, their sound and aspiration, their mode of articulation and their point or place of articulation.
Concerning transcription Phonetics, the most used system is the one proposed by the phonetic International Association (API), which was established in 1886 an International Phonetic Alphabet for the standardization of graphical symbols used to describe the pronunciation of any human language.
This alphabet consists of a basic set of signs, which will complement with diacritics for a wide variety of combinations possible, capable of representing a large number of articulatory subtleties.