What is the study of how sounds are produced in speech called?

The study of how sounds are produced in speech is called phonetics. Phonetics focuses on the physical properties of sounds themselves, including their articulation (how speech sounds are made using the speech organs), acoustic properties (how sound waves are transmitted), and auditory perception (how sounds are heard and processed by the ears and brain).

Phonetics provides a foundational understanding of sound production that is crucial for various areas in linguistics, speech-language pathology, and language education. This discipline examines not just the sounds used in a particular language but also the nuances in articulation and the anatomy involved.

While phonology deals with the rules and patterns of sounds in a specific language and how those sounds function within that language, phonetics is more concerned with the physical and functional aspects of sound production. Stress refers to the emphasis placed on certain syllables within words or words within sentences, and intonation pertains to the variation in pitch while speaking, which can affect the meaning of sentences but does not directly address sound production. Thus, phonetics is the correct term for the study of sound production in speech.