Linguistic subdiscipline concerned with semantically relevant speech sounds (phoneme). and their pertinent characteristics, relations, and systems viewed synchronically and diachronically. Today, the term ‘phonology’ is used in this broadly defined sense and is differentiated at the same time from phonetics as the scientific study of the material aspect of speech sounds. Other definitions of phonology are only of peripheral or historical interest. The term was, at one time, used synonymously with phonetics. The French continue to draw a distinction between autonomous phonology and prosody, while in American linguistics phonology is occasionally used as an umbrella term for phonetics and phonemics.
(a) Structuralist phonology: structurally oriented phonology started with N.Trubetzkoy (Prague School) and quickly developed in several directions. While Trubetzkoy was concerned with the functional aspect of phonemic analysis, the principle of the opposition of phonemes as the basis of his phonological work, American structuralism bases its concept of phoneme largely on distributional criteria (see Bloomfield 1933; Harris 1951). Common to both varieties is the way in which phonology is understood as an autonomous level of linguistic description in contrast to generative phonology (see Chomsky & Halle 1968, among others). Phonology is considered a basic discipline of structuralist language analysis (operational procedure). This is particularly the case for the functional principle of distinctiveness (distinctive feature, opposition), the analytical process of segmentation and classification, but especially for the concept of the phoneme as a bundle of distinctive features and for the hypothesis of a universal inventory of phonological features as the basis for describing all languages of the world (see Jakobson & Halle 1956).
(b) Generative phonology: in contrast to the structuralist interpretation of phonology as an autonomous level of linguistic description, in the framework of generative grammar, phonology refers to phonetic, phonological, and syntactic-morphological regularities (=systematic phonology). Instead of the phoneme, distinctive features of a universal character are considered the basic units of the phonological description (distinctive feature theory). On the basis of relatively abstract and stable underlying forms, the phonetic variants of the surface structure are derived from extrinsically ordered rules (cf. as the underlying form .
(c) From the criticism of classical transformational concepts ‘natural phonology’ and ‘natural generative phonology’ have developed. These concepts are based on the belief in a strict division of the two levels of phonology and morphology (see Hooper 1976; Dressler 1984).
(d) The problems of generative phonology in the description of suprasegmental features have recently led to a paradigm change towards non-linear phonology. The methods and results of phonological theories are a prerequisite and challenge for numerous studies in neighboring (applied) disciplines such as psycholinguistics (especially in language acquisition and language loss, aphasia). contrastiveanalysis, as well as in writing and spelling problems.
References
General and introductions
Archangeli, D. and D.Pulleyblank. 1994. Grounded phonology. Cambridge, MA.
Carr, P. 1993. Phonology: an introduction. Basingstoke.
Dinnsen, D.A. 1979. Current approaches to phonological theory. Bloomington, IN.
Durand, J. and F.Katamba (eds) 1994. New frontiers in phonology. London.
Ferguson, C.A. 1977. New directions in phonological theory: language acquisition and universals research. In R.W.Cole (ed.), Current issues in linguistic theory. Bloomington, IN.
Fisiak, J. (ed.) 1992. Phonological investigations. Amsterdam and Philadelphia.
Fudge, E. 1990. Language as organised sound: phonology. In N.E.Collinge (ed.), An encyclopedia of language. London. 30–67.
Giegevich, H.J. 1992. English phonology. Cambridge.
Katamba, F. 1989. An introduction to phonology. London.
Kaye, J. 1989. Phonology: a cognitive view. Hillsdale, NJ.
Lass, R. 1984. Phonology: an introduction to basic concepts. Cambridge.
Vennemann, T. 1986. Neuere Entwicklungen in der Phonologie. Berlin.
Vihmann, M. 1995. The origins of phonology. Oxford.
Phonological theory
Anderson, J.M. and C.J.Ewen. 1987. Principles of dependency phonology. Cambridge.
Anderson. S.R. 1985. Phonology in the twentieth century. Chicago. IL.
Basbøll, H. 1988. Phonological theory. In F.Newmeyer (ed.), Linguistics: the Cambridge survey. Cambridge. Vol. 1. 192–216.
Durand, J. (ed.) 1986. Dependency and non-linear phonology. London.
Fischer-Jørgensen, E. 1975. Trends in phonological theory: a historical introduction. Copenhagen.
Foley, J. 1977. Foundations of theoretical phonology. Cambridge.
Goldsmith, J. 1994. The handbook of phonological theory. Oxford.
Hogg, R. and C.B.McCully, 1987. Metrical phonology. Cambridge.
. J. 1973. The phoneme: introduction to the history and theories of a concept. Munich.
Makkai. V.B. (ed.) 1972. Phonological theory: evolution and current practice. Lake Bluff, IL.
Vennemann, T. 1978. Universal syllabic phonology. TL 5. 175–251.
Structuralist phonemic theory
Bloomfield. L. 1933. Language. New York.
Harris, Z.S. 1951. Methods in structural linguistics. Chicago. IL. (Repr. as Structural linguistics.)
Hockett, C.F. 1955. Manual of phonology. Bloomington, IN.
——1958. A course in modern linguistics. New York.
Jakobson, R. and M.Halle. 1956. Fundamentals of language. The Hague. (2nd rev. edn 1975.)
Twaddell, W.F. 1935. On defining the phoneme. Suppl. to Lg 16. (Also in M.Joos (ed.), Readings in linguistics, 4th edn. Chicago, IL, 1966.)
Trubetzkoy, N. 1939. Grundzüge der Phonologie. Göttingen. (4th edn 1967.)
Generative phonology
Chomsky, N. and M.Halle. 1968. The sound pattern of English. New York.
Dell, F. 1980. Generative phonology and French phonology, trans. C.Cullen. Cambridge.
Durand, J. 1990. Generative and non-linear phonology. London.
Foley, J. 1977. Foundations of theoretical phonology. Cambridge.
Helff, B. 1970. Generative phonology. LingB 86–116.
Hooper, J.B. 1976. An introduction to natural generative phonology. New York.
Hyman, L.M. 1975. Phonology: theory and analysis. New York.
Kenstowicz, M. and C.Kisseberth. 1977. Topics in phonological theory. New York.
Kiparsky, P. 1981. Explanation in phonology. Dordrecht.
Roca, I. 1994. Generative phonology. London.
Schane, S. 1973. Generative phonology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Sommerstein, A.H. 1977. Modern phonology. London.
Van der Hulst, H. and N.Smith. 1982. The structure of phonological representation. Dordrecht.
as the underlying form 
.
. J. 1973. The phoneme: introduction to the history and theories of a concept. Munich.
