speech sound system meaning

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• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Changing Role of Phonology in Reading Development
• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Pressbooks Network - ENG 3360 – Introduction to Language Studies - Phonology
• University of Sheffield - Centre for Linguistic Research - Phonology
• Social Sciences LibreTexts - Learning Phonology
• Cambridge University Press - What is phonology?

phonology , study of the sound patterns that occur within languages. Some linguists include phonetics , the study of the production and description of speech sounds, within the study of phonology .

Diachronic (historical) phonology examines and constructs theories about the changes and modifications in speech sounds and sound systems over a period of time. For example, it is concerned with the process by which the English words “sea” and “see,” once pronounced with different vowel sounds (as indicated by the spelling), have come to be pronounced alike today. Synchronic (descriptive) phonology investigates sounds at a single stage in the development of a language , to discover the sound patterns that can occur. For example, in English, nt and dm can appear within or at the end of words (“rent,” “admit”) but not at the beginning.

The Sound Systems of Language (let’s talk phonology!)

Stating the obvious.

It’s no secret that different languages use different speech sounds. But what most people don’t realize is that behind every one of those individual speech sounds is something bigger…something almost magical. It’s a system called phonology. In this article, we’re breaking down what phonology is and why it matters.

What is phonology?

In the simplest of terms, phonology is the sound system of a language.

As crazy as it may sound, it’s quite literally an invisible system that your brain uses to filter raw speech sounds into patterns of meaningful language.

If you know a thing or two about linguistics, you’re likely wondering how phonology is different from phonetics. Here’s the deal. When you study the  phonetics  of a given language, you are studying the individual speech sounds that make up that language. When you study the  phonology  of a language, you’re studying its overall sound system. That means how the sounds relate to and interact with one another.

In this way, linguists like to say that phonetics and phonology are like two sides of the same coin. They both deal with speech sounds – but they come at it from different sides.

And it’s worth mentioning here that there are two ways the word ‘phonology’ can be used. It can be used to refer to the field of academic study (i.e. phonology is a subfield of linguistics). It can also be used to refer to the sound systems of specific languages (i.e. every language has its own phonology). We use ‘phonology’ in both ways throughout this article.

Phonology boils down to 2 main concepts

They are  phonemes  and  phonological rules . These concepts can be a little bit abstract, and the best way we’ve found to describe them is as follows. Phonemes are like your brain’s version of organizational bins for the various sound categories in your language. Phonological rules are like the instructions that help you decide for any given utterance which sound to pull from what specific bin. Now that we have the general “bin metaphor” down, let’s talk about how these phonemes bins and phonological rules actually work.

Phonemes explained

Let’s start with phonemes. What exactly are they? Simply put, phonemes are units of sound that are meaningfully contrastive in a language. Here’s an example. As an English speaker, you use and hear the /t/ sound many times a day. But have you ever noticed that not every /t/ you hear or use sounds the same?

That’s because the way we pronounce our individual speech sounds changes based on things like context and environment. Sometimes those changes are small; sometimes they’re more noticeable. For instance, the way you pronounce the ‘t’ sound in the word ‘team’ likely sounds different from how you pronounce it in the word ‘mountain.’ But here’s the thing: both of those words use English /t/s – even though they sound really different. 

So, how does your brain know that both of those sounds are really representing the same underlying /t/? Well, as your brain learned the English sound system, it created mental bins to organize those sounds in a meaningful way. And as you probably guessed, those mental bins are called phonemes.

Remember — phonemes are units of sound that are meaningfully contrastive in a language. For example, English speakers have one mental bin for the /r/ sound and another one for the /l/ sound. That’s because in English, /r/ and /l/ are two separate phonemes. But speakers of languages with different phonologies (like Japanese or Korean) have just one bin that contains both of those sounds. That’s because in Japanese and Korean the /r/ and /l/ sound are part of one shared underlying phoneme category.

So, that’s why when you hear a Japanese or Korean speaker learning English, they might use an /r/ where an /l/ should be or an /l/ where an /r/ should be. To their ears, those two sounds could just sound like two versions of the same underlying phoneme. Now, if you’re a native speaker of English – that might sound crazy to you. After all – /r/ and /l/ seem to sound completely different! But they only sound different to you because English phonology has taught your brain to bin them as separate speech sounds. The truth is – when you break down the /r/ and /l/ sounds phonetically and acoustically, they’re actually quite similar.

Okay – so now, we know what phonemes are. But you might be wondering – why do we need them? Can’t we just hear each sound as it is – and not worry about putting them into little mental bins? Well, think of it this way. Humans categorize things because it helps us make sense of the world and navigate it more efficiently. It’s like how you organize your home. With the exception of the junk drawer we all pretend we don’t have, we store items that are similar together. Food goes in the fridge. Clothes go in the dresser. Cleaning products go in the closet. Simply put, having categories – like phonemes – help us quickly and efficiently decide what variations or differences are worth noticing – and which aren’t. If we didn’t use phoneme categories to organize incoming speech sounds, language would be really hard for us to process.

Now here’s the real question – when you’re speaking and you’re about to use a word with a /t/ sound – how do you know which of the various possible pronunciations of it to use? The answer is: phonological rules.

Phonological rules explained

Phonological rules are basically pronunciation rules. Here’s an example. In Korean, when you have a /p/ followed by an /n/, you actually pronounce the /p/ as an /m/.

Long story short, phonological rules explain why we don’t always pronounce our speech sounds the same way.

These changes in how we pronounce individual speech sounds usually happen because the sound interacts with other sounds in the words around it. And these rules usually make it easier to speak, to make it easier for our mouths to blend one sound into the next. If you want to learn more about it, check out this  check out this blog on sound blending.

How does this apply to language learning?

It can be hard to learn the sound system of a new language. If you are struggling to master pronunciation patterns in a target language, take solace in the fact that you can gently remind yourself that it takes to learn new phoneme categories and necessary phonological rules. You can extend that to others, too, by showing empathy for those who are in the process of learning your language’s phonological system.

3 main takeaways

Phonology is the study of how speech sounds fit together in a language.

Every language’s sound system is organized based on phonemes and phonological rules.

Phonemes are the organizational sound bins of your language’s sound system; phonological rules are the instructions for how those sounds fit together

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2.2 The Articulatory System

We speak by moving parts of our vocal tract (See Figure 2.1). These include the lips, teeth, mouth, tongue and larynx. The larynx or voice box is the basis for all the sounds we produce. It modified the airflow to produce different frequencies of sound. By changing the shape of the vocal tract and airflow, we are able to produce all the phonemes of spoken language. There are two basic categories of sound that can be classified in terms of the way in which the flow of air through the vocal tract is modified. Phonemes that are produced without any obstruction to the flow of air are called vowels . Phonemes that are produced with some kind of modification to the airflow are called consonants . Of course, nature is not as clear-cut as all that and we do make some sounds that are somewhere in between these two categories. These are called semivowels and are usually classified alongside consonants as they behave similar to them.

While vowels do not require any modifications to the airflow, the production of consonants requires it. This obstruction is produced by bringing some parts of the vocal tract into contact. These places of contact are known as places of articulation . As seen in Figure 2.2, there are a number of places of articulation for the lips, teeth, and tongue. Sometimes the articulators touch each other as in the case of the two lips coming together to produce [b]. At other times, two articulators come into contact as when the lower lip folds back into the upper teeth to produce [f]. The tongue can touch different parts of the vocal tract to produce a variety of consonants by touching the teeth, the alveolar ridge, hard palate or soft palate (or velum).

While these places of articulation are sufficient for describing how English phonemes are produced, other languages also make use of the glottis and epiglottis among other parts of the vocal tract. We will explore these in more detail later.

The Vocal Tract

Fill in the blanks with parts of vocal tract:

• Hard palate
•  Soft palate
• Nasal cavity
• Alveolar ridge
• Vocal cords

To check your answers, navigate to the above link to view the interactive version of this activity.

Places of Articulation

Image description

Figure 2.1 Parts of the Human Vocal Tract

A labeled image of the anatomical components of the human vocal tract, including the nasal cavity, hard palate, soft palate or velum, alveolar ridge, lips, teeth, tongue, uvula, esophagus, trachea, and the parts of the larynx, which include the epiglottis, vocal cords, and glottis.

[Return to place in the text (Figure 2.1)]

Figure 2.2 Places of Articulation

A labeled image illustrating the anatomical components of the human vocal tract that are involved in English phonemes. These include the glottal, velar, palatal, dental, and labial structures.

[Return to place in the text (Figure 2.2)]

Media Attributions

• Figure 2.1 Parts of the Human Vocal Tract is an edited version of Mouth Anatomy by Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator, is licensed under a  CC BY 2.5 licence .
• Figure 2.2 Places of Articulation is an edited version of Mouth Anatomy by Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator, is licensed under a  CC BY 2.5 licence .

A speech sound that is produced without complete or partial closure of the vocal tract.

A speech sound that is produced with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract.

A consonant that is phonetically similar to a vowel but functions as a consonant. Also known as a glide.

The point of contact between the articulators.

Psychology of Language Copyright © 2021 by Dinesh Ramoo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Speech in Linguistics

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• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
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In linguistics , speech is a system of  communication  that uses spoken words  (or sound symbols ). 

The study of speech sounds (or spoken language ) is the branch of linguistics known as phonetics . The study of sound changes in a language is phonology . For a discussion of speeches in rhetoric and oratory , see Speech (Rhetoric) .

Etymology:  From the Old English, "to speak"

Studying Language Without Making Judgements

• "Many people believe that written language is more prestigious than spoken language--its form is likely to be closer to Standard English , it dominates education and is used as the language of public administration. In linguistic terms, however, neither speech nor writing can be seen as superior. Linguists are more interested in observing and describing all forms of language in use than in making social and cultural judgements with no linguistic basis." (Sara Thorne, Mastering Advanced English Language , 2nd ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)

Speech Sounds and Duality

• "The very simplest element of speech --and by 'speech' we shall henceforth mean the auditory system of speech symbolism, the flow of spoken words--is the individual sound, though, . . . the sound is not itself a simple structure but the resultant of a series of independent, yet closely correlated, adjustments in the organs of speech." ( Edward Sapir , Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech , 1921)
• "Human language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This property is called duality (or 'double articulation'). In speech production, we have a physical level at which we can produce individual sounds, like n , b and i . As individual sounds, none of these discrete forms has any intrinsic meaning . In a particular combination such as bin , we have another level producing a meaning that is different from the meaning of the combination in nib . So, at one level, we have distinct sounds, and, at another level, we have distinct meanings. This duality of levels is, in fact, one of the most economical features of human language because, with a limited set of discrete sounds, we are capable of producing a very large number of sound combinations (e.g. words) which are distinct in meaning." (George Yule, The Study of Language , 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Approaches to Speech

• "Once we decide to begin an analysis of speech , we can approach it on various levels. At one level, speech is a matter of anatomy and physiology: we can study organs such as tongue and larynx in the production of speech. Taking another perspective, we can focus on the speech sounds produced by these organs--the units that we commonly try to identify by letters , such as a 'b-sound' or an 'm-sound.' But speech is also transmitted as sound waves, which means that we can also investigate the properties of the sound waves themselves. Taking yet another approach, the term 'sounds' is a reminder that speech is intended to be heard or perceived and that it is therefore possible to focus on the way in which a listener analyzes or processes a sound wave." (J. E. Clark and C. Yallop, An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology . Wiley-Blackwell, 1995)

Parallel Transmission

• "Because so much of our lives in a literate society has been spent dealing with speech recorded as letters and text in which spaces do separate letters and words, it can be extremely difficult to understand that spoken language simply does not have this characteristic. . . . [A]lthough we write, perceive, and (to a degree) cognitively process speech linearly--one sound followed by another--the actual sensory signal our ear encounters is not composed of discretely separated bits. This is an amazing aspect of our linguistic abilities, but on further thought one can see that it is a very useful one. The fact that speech can encode and transmit information about multiple linguistic events in parallel means that the speech signal is a very efficient and optimized way of encoding and sending information between individuals. This property of speech has been called parallel transmission ." (Dani Byrd and Toben H. Mintz, Discovering Speech, Words, and Mind . Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

Oliver Goldsmith on the True Nature of Speech

• "It is usually said by grammarians , that the use of language is to express our wants and desires; but men who know the world hold, and I think with some show of reason, that he who best knows how to keep his necessities private is the most likely person to have them redressed; and that the true use of speech is not so much to express our wants, as to conceal them." (Oliver Goldsmith, "On the Use of Language." The Bee , October 20, 1759)

Pronunciation: SPEECH

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Human Speech System

The words we speak travel through air , carried by vibrations in the air. To create those air vibrations, we have an amazing speech system, which is much more than just our mouths.

• Airflow (Lungs, Voice Box, Vocal Tract)
• Speech Sounds (Vowels, Consonants)
• Pronunciation (Syllables, Words)

For every word that we speak, we can track the flow of air. It comes IN through our mouth/nose; it goes down our windpipe to our lungs. And then, to pronounce the word, it comes back up though our windpipe, and OUT through our mouth—and sometimes our nose.

As the air comes up from our (1) lungs , through our (2) voice box , and out through our (3) vocal tract —THAT is when we vibrate the air and change the "shape" of those vibrations to create different sounds, syllables and words.

The lungs are two elastic sacs in the chest that draw in air (mainly to oxygenate the blood). To initiate speech, they push air back up through the windpipe towards the voice box.

2 Voice Box

As air rises up from the lungs through the voice box in the neck, it may or may not be vibrated (so-called voiced and unvoiced sounds).

3 Vocal Tract

To control and shape the air flow above the voice box, the air travels through and exits the vocal tract , which consists of:

• the mouth (oral cavity)—tongue, teeth, lips
• the nose (nasal cavity)

Using the vocal tract, we resonate the air and make two main types of speech sounds:

Speech Sounds

A vowel is a speech sound that we make by NOT blocking air as it travels out through the mouth.

example vowel sounds : / ɪ / i: / ʊ / u: / e / ɜ: / ə / ɔ: /

2 Consonants

A consonant is a speech sound that we make by blocking air as it travels out through the mouth or nose. We block air by touching together two or more of the lips, tongue, teeth, top of mouth and back of throat.

example consonant sounds : / p / f / θ / t / s / ʃ / ʧ / k /

Pronunciation

A syllable is a meaningless unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound with or without surrounding consonant sounds, like this:

A word is a meaningful unit of speech formed from one or more syllables. For example, I is a one-syllable word and octopus is a three-syllable word, as you see in the examples below:

One or more words can form a sentence.

• The lungs push air up for speech .
• In the voice box, air passing through can be voiced or unvoiced .
• In the vocal tract, unblocked air makes vowels and blocked air makes consonants .
• Vowels and consonants make syllables .
• Syllables make words .
• Words make sentences .

vibrate (verb): move fast and continuously backwards and forwards

vibration (noun): an example of vibrating

throat (noun): the passage that leads from the back of the mouth

windpipe (noun): the air passage from the throat to the lungs; the trachea

oxygenate (verb): charge or enrich with oxygen

oxygen (noun): a colourless gas in air that is essential for life

initiate (verb): cause a process to begin

meaningless (adjective): having no meaning or significance

meaningful (adjective): having meaning or significance

Recommended Links

• Single consonants sounds (video)
• Voiced and voiceless consonants
• Consonant sounds and letters