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Synopsis Phonetics is the study of the sounds of human speech.  It is concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds and their production, audition and perception, as opposed to phonology, which is the study of sound system an abstract sound units.  Phonetics deals with the sounds themselves rather than the contexts in which they are used in languages.  Discussions of meaning do not enter at this level of linguistic analysis.  Phonetics studies the defining characteristics of all human vocal noise and concentrates its attention on those sounds which occur in the languages of the world.  In other words., phoneticians try to study how the various organs of speech-the lungs. The larynx, the soft palate, the tongue and the lip-function in the production of speech.  They also attempt to offer articulatory descriptions of various sounds by describing the air-stream-mechanism and the phonatory and articulatory processes involved.  Acoustic phoneticians examine the physical nature of sounds and analyses the speech waves with the help of various instruments.