phonological

phonological — adjective

1. about the way sounds work in a language, or about the study of those sound patte

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

about the way sounds work in a language, or about the study of those sound patterns.

Example

The teacher explained the phonological difference between ship and sheep.

phonological difference between two words

Korean learners practiced English stress to solve a phonological problem.

phonological problem in language learning

Common collocations
  • phonological awareness
  • phonological change
  • phonological pattern
  • phonological rule
  • phonological system
Synonyms
  • phonetic

    close in topic, but it more often focuses on actual speech sounds and how they are produced or written

  • phonemic

    narrower; used for sound units that change meaning in a language

  • linguistic

    much broader; it can refer to grammar, meaning, or language use as well as sound

Grammar Patterns

phonological + noun

phonological difference

phonological rule

Usage Note

Usually placed before nouns such as 'system', 'rule', 'change', 'pattern', or 'awareness'. In less technical English, people often use 'sound' instead unless they are talking about linguistics.

Common Mistakes

Our teacher used phonological symbols like /p/ and /b/ on the board.
Our teacher used phonetic symbols like /p/ and /b/ on the board.
Single sound symbols are usually described as 'phonetic'; 'phonological' is about the sound system or its rules.

Word family

  • phonology
    nounC2
  • phonologically
    adverbC2
  • phonologist
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Phonological is the broad word for the sound system of a language and the patterns inside it. Phonetic is closer to the physical sound itself, such as where your tongue goes or how a sound is written in symbols. Phonemic is narrower still: it focuses on sound units that change meaning, such as /r/ and /l/ in some word pairs. Prosodic is about larger sound features like stress, rhythm, and intonation, not the whole sound system. So a textbook may discuss phonological rules, a teacher may give phonetic symbols, a linguist may test phonemic contrasts, and a singer may practice prosodic patterns.

phonological ↗phoneticphonemicprosodic

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • phonological awareness
  • phonological change
  • phonological rule
  • phonological system

Etymology

GreekEnglish

Phonological comes from phonology with the adjective ending -ical. Phonology was formed in modern English from Greek parts meaning 'sound' and 'study' or 'account'. The word is now mainly used in linguistics for things connected with the sound system of a language.