In a wish to transcend the phonetics/phonology divide (Sóskuthy 2013; Ohala 1990; Ohala 2005), I refer to the set of disciplines that investigate the visual systems (signing) and sound systems (speech sounds) of the world’s languages with the term phonetology (from a combination of phonetics and phonology).
Although this newly-coined term contains the Greek root phon- ‘sound’, its meaning is by no means restricted to the realm of spoken languages, as its definition makes explicit. Sign languages, and other communicative systems yet to be “discovered”, are included. The term phonetological system can be used as an umbrella term that covers both visual and sound systems.