Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language. It examines phonemes, which are abstract linguistic units that include different sounds, and allophones, which are variant forms of the same phoneme that differ in features. Phonemic transcription uses symbols to represent phonemes, while phonetic transcription shows articulatory detail by representing allophones between brackets. Diacritics provide extra information in phonetic but not phonemic transcription. Minimal pairs reveal phoneme distinctions, and complementary distribution and free variation describe sound patterns. Neutralization occurs when phoneme opposition is lost in an environment.

1. Phonology
Phonology is the study of the
sound system of a particular
language, it is concerned with
the function of speech sounds
of the language.

2. Phoneme vs allophone
• Phoneme is an abstract linguistic unit,
which includes sounds of different types.
• Allophone refers to variant forms of the
same phoneme. It either loses or gains an
additional feature.
• Allophone is ONE of several similar
phones that belong to the same
phoneme family.

3. Phonemic vs phonetic
transcription
• Phonemic transcription is an alphabetic
system for showing the sounds of a
language, which allots one symbol to each
phoneme. It is placed between / /.
• Phonetic transcription is a transcription
which shows articulatory detail by means
of representing the allophones of
phonemes. It is placed between [ ].

4. Diacritics
• Marks added to phonetic symbols to
supply extra information. They are used in
phonetic transcription NOT in phonemic
transcription.

5. Minimal pairs
• One of the discovery procedures used in
phonology; it shows two words that are
identical in form except for a contrast in
one phoneme in the same position in each
word.
• They are used to reveal the distinctive
features of the phoneme.
• Examples: bad~sad ; bid~bed ; cab~cap

6. Complementary distribution
• The situation where two sounds never
occur in the same environment. In
mathematical terms, X never occurs in Y’s
environment.
• Example : light ~ full ; high ~ strong

7. Free variation
• The situation where two sounds can occur
in the same environment without causing
any change of meaning. It may arise due
to sociolinguistic or geographical factors.
• Example: top , bad ; excuse me

8. Neutralisation
• A case where phoneme opposition is lost
in a particular environment, i.e., only one
phoneme is accepted.
• Example: still *sdill
skill *sgill
spill *sbill