What is the study of the production of sounds in speech called?

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

Answer: (A)

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds in terms of how they are produced, transmitted, and heard. It looks at articulation—how the tongue, lips, vocal cords, and other parts of the speech apparatus create sounds—as well as the acoustic properties of those sounds and how listeners perceive them. This focus on the physical production and properties of sounds makes it the best fit for the question. By contrast, phonology deals with the abstract systems and patterns of sounds in a language, morphology covers word formation, and syntax covers sentence structure.