Phonetics: Scope and Applications

Phonetics as a branch of linguistics. Phonetics and other disciplines. Applications of

phonetics. We begin our study of language by examining the inventory, structure and functions

of the speech sounds. This branch of linguistics is called phonetics. Phonetics is an independent branch

of linguistics like lexicology or grammar. These linguistic sciences study language from

three different points of view. Lexicology deals with the vocabulary of language,

with the origin and development of words, with their meaning and word building.

Grammar defines the rules governing the modification of words and the combination of words

into sentences. Phonetics studies the outer form of language; its sound matter.