Introduction to Phonology, Part 1
I’ve been working on an idea over the last week, but to begin talking about it I’ve found that the audience needs to have at least a basic understanding of modern phonological theory. This post is the first in a series designed to teach these basics, such that someone who reads it all will have the necessary knowledge to follow along with my Great New Idea (TM). It’s also often said that teaching is the best way to reinforce learning, so I think writing all of this out will at the very least help me to solidify my understanding of the same topics. Now let’s get on with it!
What is phonology?
Wikipedia gives the following definition of phonology1:
Phonology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the systematic organization of sounds in languages.
Many people conflate phonology with phonetics, but in fact these are two very different (though related) disciplines within linguistics.
Phonetics is the study of speech sounds on a physical level. Phoneticists study the physical articulation of speech sounds, the perception of speech sounds, and other aspects entirely concerned with the physical aspects of how humans produce language.
On the other hand, phonology is concerned with how those speech sounds are put together, and in what patterns. Phonologists perform analyses on languages to determine underlying truths about how those languages use speech sounds. One broad example is the determination of whether two physically distinct sounds are in fact interpreted by speakers of a language as being different sounds or not. (We’ll revisit this later.)
One of the main focuses of phonology is the construction of phonological rules. In phonology, a rule is essentially a description of how a language prefers one allophone (physical production of a sound) of a phoneme (abstract concept of a sound) over another allophone in a given context. These rules can then be used to form predictions about how the language works on a deeper level than we would otherwise have.
Why do we care about phonology?
Perhaps the trickiest question to answer is that of why we even bother with phonology. After all, if it’s just a description of how people use sounds, does it really matter? Can’t we just ignore it and keep using language as we always have?
As I see it, there are two primary ways to look at phonology’s uses: (1) for its theoretical implications, and (2) for its concrete applications.
The uses of phonological theory
Phonology is a theoretical science, not entirely unlike quantum physics. In both fields, scientists study what they already know about certain phenomenon and form predictions — more formally known as “hypotheses” — which they then test for accuracy. Sometimes it’s more about developing a model that most accurately reflects the underlying truth, and sometimes it’s about trying to predict the outcome of a specific type of test more accurately. In both cases, the scientist collects data, studies the data, forms a hypothesis, and then tests their hypothesis against the data (or new data, if necessary).
The primary difference is that theoretical physics is interested in the underlying truths of the natural world as it exists outside of human interaction, whereas the phonologist is concerned with the underlying truths of human language — a contrived phenomenon which, it can be argued, no human truly understands in its entirety.
For some, the pursuit of these truths is enough reason to undertake the study. There is not always a clear “goal” in mind, nor a specific purpose. Many scientists seek primarily to gain understanding and spread this understanding to their colleagues and to other people.
Practical applications of phonology
That said, there are also ways that phonology can be applied “in the real world”, as some might say. These include things like language comparison, speech therapy, studying language acquisition, and analysing the social impact of language usage. These are less my area of interest, but are no less noble than any other application.
Up next
Next, you’ll want to read Part 2!