Phonologizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To represent or analyze speech sounds according to the principles of the study of sound systems in language
2. To apply the rules or methods of sound patterning inherent in languages to spoken words or linguistic units
3. To treat or interpret linguistic elements by assigning them phonological structure or features based on systematic sound organization

Etymology: Phonologizes is the third-person singular form of "phonologize", a verb built from "phonology" plus the suffix "-ize", which turns a noun into a verb meaning to treat or handle something in a particular way. "Phonology" itself is a compound of the Greek "phōnē", meaning sound or voice, and "-logy", meaning the study of, so the verb literally means to make something into a matter of sound study. In practice, the verb describes the act of analyzing or representing speech sounds through the principles of phonology, the branch of linguistics that studies how sounds form systems within a language. To phonologize a sound is to decide which differences in it actually matter for meaning and which are just variations, and then to record it that way. The word is a technical coinage from linguistics rather than an ancient term, and its meaning stays close to the discipline it names.

Synonyms: phonemizes, analyzes phonemes