Phonology is a branch of linguistics that studies speech sounds that analyzes the production, transmission of the sounds, and how people perceive those sounds (Hayes, 2009). The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standardized phonetic symbol set that assigns a symbol to each phonetic sound (Hayes, 2009). A vocalization can change depending on various factors. Constants are affected by the way it is voiced, the place of articulation, and way it was articulated (Hayes, 2009). Vowels differ in point of major constriction in the vocal tract such as moving the tongue or lips to cause different timbres for the sounds (Hayes, 2009). The rounding, height of the vocal tract (narrow/wider), and placement of the tongue also affect vowel generation.

 

       Phonology develops with more and more elements such as tone, non-syllabic, diphthongs. The charts examine these differential traits and highlight how much comes together to generate words. Here’s a short preview of the symbols you might see in phonetic transcription: