phonetics
the study of speech sounds, their acoustic and perceptual characteristics, and how they are produced by the speech organs
historical phonetics
the study of sound changes in words over time
physiological phonetics
the study of the function of the speech organs and their role in speech production
acoustic phonetics
the study of the auditory aspects of speech including frequency, intensity, and duration (length)
perceptual phonetics
the study of listeners' perception of speech sounds in terms of pitch, loudness, perceived length, and quality
experimental phonetics
the laboratory study of physiologic, perceptual, and acoustic phonetics
clinical phonetics
the study and transcription of speech sound disorders
phonology
the systematic organization of speech sounds in the production of language, the study of the linguistic rules that specify the manner in which phonemes are organized and combined into syllables, words, and sentences
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
an alphabet used to represent the sounds of the world's languages; created to promote a universal method of phonetic transcription
dialect
a variation in speech or language related to geographic area, social class, or ethnic group