Understanding of Phonology

  Trevor Harley (2001)

1. Phonology describes the sound categories each language uses to divide up the space of possible sounds. (p. 28) 
2. Phonology is the study of phonemes. (29) 
3. Phonology describes the sound categories each language uses to divide up the space of possible sounds. (p.46) 
4. Phonology is the study of sounds and how they relate to languages; phonology describes the sound categories each language uses to divide up the space of possible sounds

sussy_phonology

Parviz Birjandi & Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan (2005)

1. Phonology is the study of all aspects of the sounds and sound system of a language. It includes two major sub-branches: (a) phonetics, and (b) phonemics. (p.6) 
2. The abstract nature of phonology implies firm boundaries to the segment, and a straightforward conversion from abstract to concrete (phonemic representation to phonetic representation) as phonetics realizes phonology. (p.143) 
   

    

    Joan Bybee (2003)

1. The goal of phonology as conceived by generative theory is to describe the following phenomena: (i) the relations among similar but physically distinct sounds that are nonetheless taken to be ‘the same’ in some sense (allophonic relations), (ii) the relations among variants of morphemes as they occur in different contexts, (iii) phonological units of various sizes -features, segments, syllables, feet, and so on, and (iv) language-specific and universal properties of these relations and units. (p. 19)   
   
   

   Linda Shockey (2003)

   
   
   1. One could take the stance that phonology deals only with the relationship between sound units in a language (segmental and suprasegmental) and meaning (provided you are referring to lexical rather than indexical meaning). Truly phonological events would then involve exchanges of sound units which made a difference in meaning. (p. 4) 
   2. Phonology could be seen as the study of meaning-changing sound units and their representatives in different environments, regardless of whether they change the meaning, and with no constraints on the relationship between the abstract phoneme and its representatives in speech: anything can change to anything else, as long as the change is regular/predictable, that is, as long as the linkage to the underlying phonemic identity of each item is discoverable. (p.4) 
   3. .Phonology could be seen as the study of meaning-bearing sound units and their representatives in different environments, regardless of whether they change the meaning, with the addition of constraints as to what sorts of substitutions are likely or even possible. (p.5) 
   4. Phonology is the systematic study of the pronunciation/perception targets and processes used by native speakers of a language in everyday life. (p. 10)

   
   REFERENCES

   Joan Bybee. (2003). Phonology and Language Use. New York: CambridgeUniversity Press.
   
   
   Linda Shockey. (2003). Sound Patterns of Spoken English. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing.
   
   
   Parviz Birjandi & Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan. (2005). An Introduction to Phonetics. Iran: Zabankadeh Publications.
   
   
   Trevor Harley. (2001). The Psychology of Language from Data to Theory. New York: Psychology Press.