The Sound Patterns of Language

The study of the ways in which sounds form systems and patterns in human language. It studies the phonetic sounds and phonemic units and the rules for combining sounds in the pronunciation of words.

• Morphology

• Phonetics

• Phonology

Sounds are what we actually produce, they are what we feel we pronounce and hear. They are sound segments that are distinctive and can contrast or distinguish words

• Allophone

• Phone

• Phoneme

Phoneme: A sound type that we perceive which enables us to distinguish between words that are otherwise identical. It cannot be articulated (Abstract).

• True

• False

Phones are sounds we hear with our ears. Can be articulated (concrete)

• False

• True

Allophones: Same sounds as phonemes but differ in different context and doesn't change the meaning but the sound or pronunciation of the word.

• True

• False

A period of voicelessness after the release of an articulation

• Elision

• Aspiration

• Gemination

Two words with distinct meanings that differ by only one segment (sound) found in the same position in each word

• Minimal Set

• Minimal Pair

When there is a group of words that can be differentiated by only one sound found in the same position in each word

• Minimal Pair

• Minimal Set

The study of patterns of sound combinations that are allowed in a certain language

• Phonetics

• Phonotactics

• Phonology

A group of sounds that are pronounced in one breath. A syllable must contain a vowel or a vowel-like sound. It sometimes contains consonants before the vowel, after the vowel, or before and after the vowel.

• Cluster

• Syllable

• Affixes