2012م - 1444هـ
WHAT IS PHONOLOGY?

1.1 Introduction

This book deals with phonology, the study of the sound systems of

language. In the following chapters, a close look will be taken at the ways in

which various languages organize or structure different sounds. Since speech

sounds are used to convey meaning, sound systems cannot be fully understood

unless they are studied in a wider linguistic context. A language learner, for

instance, must master the production and perception of the sounds of a

given language. He must also, however, learn when to use these sounds.

Thus, speakers of English must learn not only the sounds [k] and [ s ], which

are transcribed between phonetic brackets (see below), but also that the [k]

of opaque changes to [ s] when the suffix -ity is added to form the word

opacity. This change of [k] to [ s] is as much a part of the sound system of

English as is the fact that English contains the sounds [k], [g], [s], and[z].

The goal of phonology is, then, to study the properties of the sound systems

which speakers must learn or internalize in order to use their language for the

purpose of communication. Thus, when approaching the sound system of a

language, it is necessary to study not only the physical properties of the

attested sounds (that is, how they are made and what their acoustic correlates

are), but also the grammatical properties of these sounds.

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