Phoneme, Phonetics, and Phonology

Definition of phoneme, phonetic and Phonology

1.      Phoneme

Phoneme is the basic unit of sounds. Concerning the distinction between phone and phoneme, Crystal (1980:265) states that phone is a term used in phonetics to refer to the viewpoint of segmental phonology.

Here is a chart compares phones and phonemes:

One of many possible sounds in the languages of the world.	A contrastive unit in sound system of a particular language.
The smallest identifiable unit found in a stream of speech.	A minimal unit that serves to distinguish between meanings of words.
Pronounced in a defined way	Pronounced in one or more ways, depending on the number of allophones.
Represented between brackets by convention. Example: [b], [j], [o]	Represented between slashes by convention. Example: /b/, /j/, /o/.

2.      Phonetic

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or-in the case of sign languages- the equivalent aspects of sign.

The field of phonetics is a multilayered subject of linguistics that focuses on speech. In the case of oral languages there are three basic areas of study:

·         Articulatory phonetics is the study of the way speech sounds are made (articulated) by the vocal organs; the study of the production of speech sounds by the articulatory and vocal tract by the speaker.

·         Acoustic phonetics studies the physical properties of speech sounds, as transmitted between mouth and ear; the study of the physical transmission of speech sounds from the speaker to the listener.

·         Auditory phonetics studies the perceptual response to speech sounds, as mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain; the study of the reception and perception of speech sounds by the listener.

3.      Phonology

Phonology is the study of the sounds systems in language; studies, being what they are, aim to provide us with methods of analysis—in this case, analysis of spoken utterances which will allow us to represent them on paper in a way that provides us with a deeper insight into how our language works.