Branches of Phonology

Branches of phonology There are four branches :- 1.

Segmental phonology :- It analyses

speech into discrete segments, such as phonemes. 2. Supra- segmentalphonology :- It
analyses those features which extend over more than one segment such as intonation , stress.
What is Phonology?
Phonology is the study of the patterns of sounds in a language and across languages. Put more
formally, phonology is the study of the categorical organisation of speech sounds in languages;
how speech sounds are organised in the mind and used to convey meaning. In this section of the
website, we will describe the most common phonological processes and introduce the concepts
of underlying representations for sounds versus what is actually produced, the surface form.

Phonology vs. Phonetics – the key differences

Phonology is concerned with the abstract, whereas phonetics is concerned with the physical
properties of sounds. In phonetics we can see infinite realisations, for example every time you
say a ‘p’ it will slightly different than the other times you’ve said it. However, in phonology all
productions are the same sound within the language’s phoneme inventory, therefore even though
every ‘p’ is produced slightly different every time, the actual sound is the same. This highlights a
key difference between phonetic and phonology as even though no two ‘p’s are the same, they
represent the same sound in the language.
https://youtu.be/b028iZurF7A
https://youtu.be/b028iZurF7A
https://youtu.be/yGxe4BTjvuo
https://youtu.be/yGxe4BTjvuo
https://www.slideshare.net/thepratik91/phonology-introduction
https://study.com/academy/lesson/phonology-definition-rules-examples.html
1. Phonetics vs. phonology
Phonetics deals with the production of speech sounds by humans, often without prior
knowledge of the language being spoken. Phonology is about patterns of sounds,
especially different patterns of sounds in different languages, or within each language,
different patterns of sounds in different positions in words etc.
2. Phonology as grammar of phonetic patterns
 The consonant cluster /st/ is OK at the beginning, middle or end of words in

English.
 At beginnings of words, /str/ is OK in English, but /ftr/ or / tr/ are not (they are
ungrammatical).
 / tr/ is OK in the middle of words, however, e.g. in "ashtray".
 / tr/ is OK at the beginnings of words in German, though, and /ftr/ is OK word-
initially in Russian, but not in English or German.
3. A given sound have a different function or status in the sound patterns of

different languages
For example, the glottal stop [ ] occurs in both English and Arabic BUT ...
In English, at the beginning of a word, [ ] is a just way of beginning vowels, and does
not occur with consonants. In the middle or at the end of a word, [ ] is one possible
pronunciation of /t/ in e.g. "pat" [pa ].
In Arabic, / / is a consonant sound like any other (/k/, /t/ or whatever): [ íktib]
"write!", [da íi a] "minute (time)", [ a ] "right".
4. Phonemes and allophones, or sounds and their variants
The vowels in the English words "cool", "whose" and "moon" are all similar but
slightly different. They are three variants or allophones of the /u/ phoneme. The
different variants are dependent on the different contexts in which they occur.
Likewise, the consonant phoneme /k/ has different variant pronunciations in different
contexts. Compare:
keep /kip/ The place of articulation is fronter in the mouth [k+h]

The place of articulation is not so front in the
cart /k t/ [kh]
mouth
The place of articulation is backer, and the lips are
coot /kut/ [khw]
rounded
seek /sik/ There is less aspiration than in initial position [k`]
scoop /skup/ There is no aspiration after /s/ [k]
These are all examples of variants according to position (contextual variants). There
are also variants between speakers and dialects. For example, "toad" may be
pronounced [tëUd] in high-register RP, [toUd] or [to d] in the North. All of them are
different pronunciations of the same sequence of phonemes. But these differences can
lead to confusion: [toUd] is "toad" in one dialect, but may be "told" in another.
5. Phonological systems
Phonology is not just (or even mainly) concerned with categories or objects (such as
consonants, vowels, phonemes, allophones, etc.) but is also crucially about relations.
For example, the English stops and fricatives can be grouped into related pairs which
differ in voicing and (for the stops) aspiration:
Voiceless/aspira p t k f s h
ted h h h
Voiced/unaspira (unpaire
b d v z ð
ted d)
Patterns lead to expectations: we expect the voiceless fricative [h] to be paired with a
voiced [ ], but we do not find this sound as a distinctive phoneme in English. And in
fact /h/ functions differently from the other voiceless fricatives (it has a different
distribution in words etc.) So even though [h] is phonetically classed as a voiceless
fricative, it is phonologically quite different from /f/, /s/, / / and / /.
Different patterns are found in other languages. In Classical Greek a three-way

distinction was made between stops:
Voiceless/aspirated ph th kh
Voiced/unaspirated p t k
Voiced (and unaspirated) b d
In Hindi-Urdu a four-way pattern is found, at five places of articulation:
Voiceless aspirated ph th h ch kh
Voiceless unaspirated p t c k
Voiced unaspirated b d etc.
Breathy voiced ("voiced aspirates") b d etc.

Branches of Phonology

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Branches of phonology There are four branches :- 1.

Segmental phonology :- It analyses

Phonology vs. Phonetics – the key differences

2. Phonology as grammar of phonetic patterns

 The consonant cluster /st/ is OK at the beginning, middle or end of words in

3. A given sound have a different function or status in the sound patterns of

4. Phonemes and allophones, or sounds and their variants

keep /kip/ The place of articulation is fronter in the mouth [k+h]

Different patterns are found in other languages. In Classical Greek a three-way

In Hindi-Urdu a four-way pattern is found, at five places of articulation:

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