Which term studies the system of sounds in a language, including how sounds are organized and pronounced?

• A. Orthography
• B. Phonological cues
• C. Phonology
• D. Phonemic awareness

Answer: (C)

Phonology is the study of a language’s sound system—the set of distinct sounds (phonemes), the rules that organize them, and how they can be combined and influence meaning in speech. It explains why certain sound patterns occur, how sounds interact in different contexts, and how the same sequence of letters can be pronounced in different ways across languages or dialects. This focus on the patterned organization of sounds distinguishes it from orthography, which deals with spelling and letters, and from phonemic awareness, a reading-related skill about recognizing and manipulating individual sounds. While pronunciation is about producing sounds, that aspect belongs more to phonetics; phonology deals with the abstract system that shapes how those sounds behave in the language.