phonotactics

[foh-nuh-tak-tiks]

noun (used with a singular verb) Linguistics.

the patterns in which the phonemes of a language may combine to form sequences.
the study and description of such patterns.

Origin of phonotactics

First recorded in 1955–60; see origin at phonotactic, -ics

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

British Dictionary definitions for phonotactics

phonotactics

noun

(functioning as singular) linguistics the study of the possible arrangement of the sounds of a language in the words of that language

Word Origin for phonotactics

C20: from phono- + -tactics, on the model of syntactic; see syntax

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012