Word.ws English Dictionary

phonology

Syllables: pho·no·lo·gy/fəˈnɒləd͡ʒi/US/fəˈnɑləd͡ʒi/

phonology noun: the study of the way sounds function in languages, including accent, intonation, phonemes, stress, and syllable structure, and which sounds are distinctive units within a language; (countable) the way sounds function within a given language; a phonological system.

phonology: a microphone with a red light behind it
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Noun

phonology (countable and uncountable, plural phonologies)

  1. (uncountable) The study of the way sounds function in languages, including accent, intonation, phonemes, stress, and syllable structure, and which sounds are distinctive units within a language; (countable) the way sounds function within a given language; a phonological system.
    • Prospectus of a new work, entitled Pantographia: Containing accurate copies of all the known alphabets in the world. Together with an English explanation of the peculiar force of each letter: To which will be added specimens of all well-authenticated oral languages, Forming a comprehensive Digest...1798 August, Edmund Fry, Prospectus of a New Work, Entitled Pantographia; …, [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, title page
    • The advantages of such a system [of a universal alphabet], both scientific and practical, were urged, the former in connection with the study of ethnology and philology, and the latter chiefly in connection with the great Protestant missionary enterprises of the present time. Professor [Karl...1854 March, “Notes of the Month”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Review, volume XLI (New Series), London: John Bowyer Nichols and Sons, →OCLC, page...
    Synonyms:
    orthoepy, soundlore
  2. (broadly, uncountable, sign language) The study of the way components of signs function in a sign language, and which components are distinctive units within the language; (countable) the way components of signs function within a given sign language.
    • Sign language linguists have produced many volumes of description of the phonology and morphology of signs and the syntax of sign languages.1995, David F. Armstrong, William C[larence] Stokoe, Sherman E. Wilcox, “The Universe of Gesture”, in Gesture and the Nature of Language, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press...
    • The term ‘phonology’ may seem odd in the context of sign linguistics, since the word has as its root phon – the Greek word for ‘sound’. […] However, sign linguists now prefer the term phonology to emphasise that the same level of structure exists in sign language and spoken language, despite the...1999, Rachel Sutton-Spence, Bencie Woll, “The Structure of Gestures and Signs”, in The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press...

phonology meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

phonology in Hindi

study of the way sounds function in languages
स्वनिमविज्ञान svanimvijñān, ध्वनितत्व dhvanitatva, सौतियात sautiyāt
way sounds function within a given language
स्वनिमविज्ञान svanimvijñān

phonology in Tamil

study of the way sounds function in languages
ஒலியனியல் oliyaṉiyal

phonology in Marathi

study of the way sounds function in languages
उच्चारशास्त्र uccārśāstra

phonology in Urdu

study of the way sounds function in languages
صوتیات sautiyāt
More languagesFewer languages
phonology in Bengali
ধ্বনিতত্ত্ব dhonitotto
phonology in Kannada
ಧ್ವನಿಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ dhvaniśāstra
phonology in Punjabi
ਧੁਨੀ ਵਿਉਂਤ dhunī viunta
phonology in Assamese
ধ্বনিতত্ত্ব dhonitottto
phonology in Pashto
غږپوهنه
phonology in Tagalog
ponolohiya, dalubtinigan, tinigan
phonology in Arabic
فُونُولُوجِيَّا funulujiyyā, عِلْمُ ٱلْأَصْوَاتِ ٱللُّغَوِيَّةِ ʕilmu l-ʔaṣwāti l-luḡawiyyati, اَلتَّصْرِيفُ ٱلصَّوْتِيُّ at-taṣrīfu ṣ-ṣawtiyyu, نُطْقِيَّات nuṭqiyyāt
phonology in Malay
fonologi
phonology in Indonesian
fonologi
phonology in Persian
واجشناسی vâj-šenâsi
phonology in Thai
สัทวิทยา sàt wít-tá-yaa, สรวิทยา sŏn wít-tá-yaa
phonology in Vietnamese
âm vị học, âm vị
phonology in Myanmar
ဝါစဿရဗေဒ waca.ssa.ra.beda.
Sindhi
وايوڀياسُ Viobhiyaasu

Examples of phonology in a sentence

  • Together with an English explanation of the peculiar force of each letter: To which will be added specimens of all well-authenticated oral languages, Forming a comprehensive Digest of phonology.1798 August, Edmund Fry, Prospectus of a New Work, Entitled Pantographia; …, [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, title page:
  • Max Müller have devoted much time to the subject, founding their phonology on the physiological principles ably expounded by Dr.1854 March, “Notes of the Month”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Review, volume XLI (New...
  • This analysis is of the highest importance for phonology, as the inflections are undoubtedly among the principal characteristics of dialects.1879 October, R[obert] H[olford] M[acdowall] Bosanquet, “XXXV. On the Present State of Experimental Acoustics, with Suggestions for the...
  • This example has previously been interpreted as indicating that new rules can enter a phonology elsewhere than at depth I.2000, Wallace L. Chafe, “The Ordering of Phonological Rules”, in Charles W. Kreidler, editor, Phonology: Critical Concepts, volume IV (From...

All 19 example sentences with phonology

Synonyms of phonology

Forms of phonology

pluralphonologies

Origin of phonology

From phono- (prefix denoting sound) + -logy (suffix denoting a branch of learning, or a study of a particular subject).

Words formed from phonology

Words that rhyme with phonology

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about phonology

What does phonology mean?
Phonology means the study of the way sounds function in languages, including accent, intonation, phonemes, stress, and syllable structure, and which sounds are distinctive units within a language; (countable) the way sounds function within a given language; a phonological system.
What is phonology in Hindi?
Phonology in Hindi is स्वनिमविज्ञान (svanimvijñān), ध्वनितत्व (dhvanitatva), सौतियात (sautiyāt). See Phonology meaning in Hindi.
How do you use phonology in a sentence?
Together with an English explanation of the peculiar force of each letter: To which will be added specimens of all well-authenticated oral languages, Forming a comprehensive Digest of phonology.
What part of speech is phonology?
Phonology is a noun.
How do you pronounce phonology?
Phonology is pronounced /fəˈnɒləd͡ʒi/ (UK).
What is the plural of phonology?
The plural of phonology is phonologies.

Words near phonology in the dictionary

  1. phonologizations
  2. phonologize
  3. phonologized
  4. phonologizes
  5. phonologizing
  6. phonology
  7. phonolological
  8. phonomania
  9. phonomechanocardiographic
  10. phonomechanocardiography
  11. phonometer

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: phonology (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “phonology.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phonology. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.