Concepts of Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics and phonology are two important branches within the study of linguistics that focus on the sound of language. Although they are often used interchangeably, each has its own specific focus and field of study.Phonetics focuses on the actual sounds of speech, that is, how sounds are basically produced by human beings. It deals with aspects such as the articulation of sounds, the way they are produced in the mouth, tongue and other speech organs. Phonetics also studies the acoustic properties of sounds, that is, how they are transmitted and perceived through the air.On the other hand, phonology focuses on the sounds of language on an abstract and theoretical level. It is interested in how sounds are used in a specific linguistic system, how they are organized and combined to form meaningful words and phrases. Phonology studies phonemes, which are the distinctive sounds that make a difference in the meaning of words in a language.

A simple example to differentiate both concepts would be the word “pit” in English. Phonetics would be interested in knowing how the sounds /p/, /ɪ/ and /t/ are pronounced in this word, how they are physically produced in the speaker's mouth. While phonology would focus on the way these sounds combine to form a specific word, and how changing one sound for another can lead to a completely different meaning (for example, changing /p/ to /b/ in " bit" changes the meaning of the word).