Phonological knowledge is important for a speaker to produce sounds that form

meaningful utterances.

Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages.
Phonological knowledge plays a vital role in learning a language where the sounds can be
combined into meaningful sequences in words. According to the Oxford dictionary, phonology is
the system of contrastive relationships among the speech sounds that constitute the
fundamental components of a language. Phonology consists of linguistic knowledge which helps
us to learn a language by learning which sounds that form meaningful utterances regardless of
the accent .Speaker will able to make up new words and add appropriate phonetic segment to
form plurals and past tenses morphemes. The speaker will be able to produce aspirated and
unaspirated voiceless stops in appropriate context. Therefore, it is very important in assuring
phonological knowledge as the basis for learning a foreign language regardless of race, origin
or type of accent.

It is important for the speaker to have phonological knowledge as one can change one
word into another simply by changing one sound. For example, the difference between the word
fine [f] and vine [v] is only distinguished by the initial consonants [f] and [v].Such distinctive
sounds are called phonemes where the contrast produces a different word with different
meaning. Phonemes are not physical sounds. Phonemes are abstract mental representation of
phonological units of language, the units used to represent the forms of words in our mental
lexicons. Allophones are the phonetic segments or phones that constitute the varieties of
pronunciation. For example, the word tar and star are allophones for the phoneme /t/. The
important difference between phoneme and allophone is that substituting one phoneme for
another will result in word with different meaning, but substituting allophones only resulting in
different pronunciation of same word. It is important to learn allophones so that the speaker able
to pronounce the correct words to fit the intention of the conversation. For example, the speaker
may want to pronounce beat but ends up saying bad instead.

Learning phonology can help us to speak confidently and effectively. The minimal pairs
and sets of words are used to test ability of speaker to understand the contrast in meaning of
such words. Examples of minimal pairs are fan-van and cap-cab. Minimal sets based on vowels
are pack, peck, pick, pock and puck. Minimal sets based on consonants are pig, big and dig.
Thus, such pairs are used to test understanding of English as a second language among non-
native speakers. Many speakers face difficulty in usage of plural and past tense words.

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Therefore, the phonological knowledge helps them to speak with correct pronunciation. For
example, plural-s has three different phonological alternatives which are [-s], [-z], and [-z].
Firstly, when speakers pronounce the words like cap, back, book and cuff, the final sound
will be pronounced as [s].This is called as voiceless alveolar fricative. When speakers
pronounce the words for love, cave, cab and boy, the final sound will be pronounced as [z].
This is called voiced alveolar fricative. We have to constrict our vocal tract to produce sound
through friction of our articulators. Plural words like bus, bush, judge and badge the final
sound will be pronounced as [-z]. This knowledge helps the speaker to pronounce correct
words to suit the context of the conversation.

Learning phonology also allows speaker to converse using correct pronunciations of the
past tense morphemes. There are phonetic past-tense morphemes in phonological study for
regular past tense verbs. Firstly, walk into walked and raid into raided where [t] is added to
form the past tense. The second one is where the [d] is added at the end of played and jogged.
Thirdly, it is [d] at the end of bounded and vaulted. This understanding over the past tense
morphemes enables the speaker to use correct pronunciation on tenses and also can make
easier for the listeners to understand his or her notion whether that person is referring to present
or past tense words. For instance, the person may cause misunderstanding if he used the word
pass instead of passed. They also need to learn about irregular past tenses where go has to
be mentioned as went.

The speaker learns to use suitable stress and appropriate intonation in our conversation
to overcome ambiguity so that we will be able to deliver our messages effectively without
causing confusions. For example, if we say Sarah is leaving with a falling pitch at the end, it
refers to a statement. Meanwhile, if the pitch rises at the end, it will indicate as a question.
Further example of using suitable intonation is by asking who is coming, Grandpa? If grandpa
is pronounced in falling tone,then the whole sentence refers to a query to someone called
grandpa. However if the words grandpa is pronounced in rising tone,then the whole sentence
refers to a query regarding whether grandpa is coming. Speakers can specify the intended
interpretation of the utterance by assigning a falling or rising intonation.

As a conclusion, speaker plays a significant role in developing skills and knowledge on

the way to produce sounds correctly using proper articulators. The knowledge regarding
phonology certainly boost self -esteem among the speakers as they will be able to convey the
message effectively. The correct pronunciation will help in smooth conversations without

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creating misunderstandings or misled the listeners. Phonological knowledge should be
ingrained in early childhood in order to help them to grasp the language and become
knowledgeable speakers.

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References:

Bogle, D. (1996). Practical Phonology. Edinburgh: Moray House Institute of Education.

Claire-A. Forel & Genoveva Pusks. (2005). PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY. Retrieved from

https://www.unioldenburg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/anglistik/personen/cornelia.hamann/
Phonology.pdf

Fromkin, V.& R. Rodman (2013). An Introduction to Language. New York: Holt-

Saunders, 10th edition.

Ladefoged, P. & Johnson, K. (2014). A course in phonetics (7th ed.). Boston Cengage Learning.

Yule, G. (2014). The study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.