adjective
- relating to the rules governing which sounds can occur together in a language or which sound sequences are permitted in particular positions within words
Usage: linguistics; technical
Examples
- English phonotactic rules prevent words from starting with the consonant cluster 'ng'.
- The phonotactic constraints of Spanish differ significantly from those of English.
- Linguists study phonotactic patterns to understand how languages organize their sound systems.
- Children learning a language gradually acquire the phonotactic rules of their native tongue.
- The phonotactic structure of a word affects how easily speakers can pronounce it.