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

meaningful utterances. Discuss and justify your answer.

Phonology is the branch of linguistics which investigates the ways in which sounds are used
systematically in different languages to form words and utterances. It also studies how sounds
function in relation each other to form patterns in human language .In order to understand
phonology, one must have a grasp of the basic concepts of phonetics, the study of the inventory
of all speech sounds which people are capable of producing. Thus, it is a must for a speaker to
master phonology in order to form meaningful utterances.
First of all, the speaker must have phonological knowledge to avoid misunderstandings in
communication. Brown (1997), states that intelligible pronunciation in using language for
communication is important for the clarification of message that is conveyed by a speaker. For
example the word think must be pronounced correctly / I k/. When one of the sound
changes, the word think is wrongly pronounced as /s I k/. This will change the meaning of the
utterance. It is essential to identify stressed syllables and make intelligent guesses about the
content of the message before one utters a word. In short, phonology enables a person to
master the knowledge about how to make a clear or intelligible sound and identify the sound
correctly.
Phonological knowledge enables a speaker to use language appropriately during
communication. In this case, the segmental and supra segmental features in phonology teaches
a person to use a proper language. The segmental features deal with the production of sounds
in an accurate voice. The supra segmental features refers to the features that clearly extend
over a series of segmental groups such as stress, rhythm, and intonation. The supra segmental
features are very crucial to be learned. For instance, it expresses how a person feels about a
topic or a matter during communication effectively. It accompanies the pronunciation of words
that can only be voiced. Therefore, a good speaker could convey a clear message through
producing clear utterance and sequencing a conversation orderly.
Moreover, phonological knowledge build awareness to be a consistent language user. As we
know that there are two major accents in English, British and American accents. These two
accents in some cases have different vocabulary and pronunciation.
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Most of the British English accents will pronounce certain words as silent sound while American
English accent will pronounce it clearly. For example, the word ballet will get its stress in the
beginning syllable for British English accent whereas the American English accent will stress it
on the second syllable. The knowledge dealing with two different accents will raise the speaker's
awareness to make a decision in which one of the accents they will be using when uttering a
word. In nutshell, the knowledge related to silent sounds and stressing in both accents can only
be mastered if the speaker studies phonology in detail.
Besides, phonology enables the speakers to identify their problem in sound production. There
are speakers who do not speak English as their first language. As a result, the non-native
speakers find it difficult to pronounce the English sounds because of their first language
influence. For instance, the sentence What is your father like? in English, the words father and
like may get primarily stress in pronouncing the sentence. On the other hand, Japanese
speakers may bring their language system to pronounce this sentence with incorrect stress
where they will put the stress on words what and is. Phonology can make a speaker to identify
the usage of correct stresses in a sentence. To sum up, phonology provides access to speakers
in order to provide a speech with perfect stresses when they are giving an informative
information.
Moreover, speakers are able to identify the speech sounds that are distinct from one another
in terms of place of articulation and manners of articulation. Different languages make different
and additional articulatory distinctions. For example [t] and [s] differ in the manner in which the
tongue is brought towards the roof of the mouth. The speakers must bear in mind that different
phonetic effects make one speech sound distinct from another. In order to know the proper
usage of speech sounds, the speakers must have deep phonological knowledge. This enhances
the speaking skills and the speakers can be an expert in producing the speech sounds in the
correct way. Thus, the place of articulation and manners of articulation are one of the basic
concepts in phonology that must be conquered by all the speakers to form meaningful
utterances.
Last but not least, the speakers can be an expert in the phonemic manipulation of sounds in
spoken words. Manipulation is an ability to manipulate or work with individual sounds in spoken
words. Speakers who can think about and manipulate the phonemes can become better
spellers and talkers.
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There are many sub knowledge in phonemic manipulation of sounds that are very useful in
producing meaningful utterances. For instance, they are able to distinguish and remember
words such as fresh, flesh and French. The phonemic knowledge is very essential for speakers
who want to be proficient in English. Thus, the explore of phonemic manipulation would be a
fine step for speakers to pick up their speaking skills.
In conclusion, phonology is making our life easier and convenient so that each person is
capable of producing meaningful utterances. All of us must know the importance of phonology
to prepare ourselves mentally in learning the proper way of pronouncing words and many
more. Each person must be aware that phonological knowledge is a fundamental in a part of our
life.