phonotactics Syllabification: (pho·no·tac·tics)Pronunciation: /ˌfōnōˈtaktiks/Definition of phonotactics noun [treated as singular] the study of the rules governing the possible phoneme sequences in a language. Derivatives phonotacticPronunciation: /–tik/ adjective phonotactics in other Oxford dictionaries Definition of phonotactics in the British & World English dictionary