Word
phonological
Phoneticsphono·log·i·cal
US/ˌfoʊnəˈɫɑdʒɪkəɫ/
UK/fˌɒnəlˈɒdʒɪkəl/
Definition
adj. relating to the sounds of a language and how they are organized. It describes the rules that decide which sounds are allowed in a specific language.
adj. relating to the systematic organization of sounds in a language. Often used in linguistics to describe the abstract representation of speech sounds rather than their physical production.
Examples
“The child made a phonological error by saying 'pencil' instead of 'bencil'.”
“Linguists study phonological rules to understand why certain sound combinations are common in one language but forbidden in another.”
“While the physical articulation of the sound is clear, the phonological status of the glottal stop varies significantly across different dialects of English.”
Examples
simple
“The child made a phonological error by saying 'pencil' instead of 'bencil'.”
contextual
“Linguists study phonological rules to understand why certain sound combinations are common in one language but forbidden in another.”
complex
“While the physical articulation of the sound is clear, the phonological status of the glottal stop varies significantly across different dialects of English.”
Real-World Examples
“The program is focused on phonological awareness, phonics, irregular word reading and shared book reading.” Etymology
From phonology + -ical.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/phonological