Which term is the study of the sound system of language?

• A. Phonetics
• B. Semantics
• C. Morphology
• D. Phonology

Answer: (D)

The study of how sounds function within a language, shaping meaning and how they pattern with each other, is phonology. This field examines the sound system as an abstract set of units—phonemes—and the rules that govern how those sounds pair and interact in a language. For example, in English the distinction between sounds like /p/ and /b/ can change the meaning of a word (pat vs. bat), highlighting how phonology focuses on contrastive sounds and how they are organized in speech. It also explores why certain sound sequences are allowed or avoided in a language, which is part of phonotactics and prosody (like patterns of stress and intonation). By contrast, phonetics deals with the physical properties of sounds—how they are produced, transmitted, and heard—while semantics is about meaning, and morphology deals with the structure of words.