
all text copyright Beth Kemp 2004-
provided for the purpose of private study only

Phonology
Phonology is the framework that is concerned with sound. In some areas, we will want to make precise comments about sounds used (e.g. in describing children’s speech or accents), but often in textual analysis, we’re looking at effects created by sound patterns.
It’s really important to think specifically about sounds (phonemes) rather than letters: I often see students claiming that, for example, there is alliteration in “crispy chocolate” when the sounds are clearly entirely different.
Key phonological terms:
alliteration, assonance, rhyme
onomatopoeia
puns using homophones or collocational clashes
plosive sounds: pin, ball, ten, dog, car, girl
fricative sounds: see, zoo, she, leisure, thin, though, fat, van
Ways to use phonological knowledge:
ANALYSIS OF TEXTS -
CHILD LANGUAGE -
VARIATION -