phonology

Use the noun phonology to describe the study of the way sounds are used in a language and the rules for pronouncing certain words, like the silent t in the French-derived word debut.

You're most likely to hear the word phonology in a college linguistics class, learning about how specific sounds are organized and used in various languages. You might hear the terms phonetics and phonemes in the same class, both of which have to do with sound, speech, language, and meaning. All these words have their roots in the Greek word for "voice," phone, and in the case of phonology, it is combined with the Greek suffix -logy, which means "study, science, or theory."