n.
Pronunciation: f ə - ' nä-l ə -j ē , f ō -
Function: noun
Date: 1799
1 : the science of speech sounds including especially the history and theory of sound changes in a language or in two or more related languages
2 : the phonetics and phonemics of a language at a particular time
– pho · no · log · i · cal \ ˌ f ō -n ə - ' lä-ji-k ə l also ˌ fä- \ also pho · no · log · ic \ -jik \ adjective
– pho · no · log · i · cal · ly \ -ji-k( ə -)l ē \ adverb
– pho · nol · o · gist \ f ə - ' nä-l ə -jist, f ō - \ noun