This program keeps track of phonetic data either typed directly in or drawn from one or more data sources (Toolbox, Fieldworks Language Explorer, Speech Analyzer files with transcriptions). If sound files are included in the source data, the user can listen to them directly in Phonology Assistant. PA has many analytical features, such as

• Creates a phone inventory
• Compares relative frequencies of phones
• Computes syllable structures
• Generates phonotactic charts for all combinations of positions, phones, or features
• Finds minimal pairs and/or phones contrasting in similar environments.

The user can search and manipulate the data in many useful ways, and the powerful search function allows the user to search for phonetic patterns within specified environments. Data can be marked as uncertain if the transcription is in doubt, and uncertain data can optionally be marked in charts and wordlists. Charts are flexible and allow columns and rows to be added or deleted, and phones can be placed where the user wants them to appear.  The following charts are available:

• All phones found.
• Histogram of the frequencies of phones
• Search all phonetic data items containing a particular phonetic segment, sorting preceding and following contexts from left to right or right to left.
• Distribution charts (formerly XY charts): display rows of search items and columns of search environments. Each cell displays the number of occurrences of an item in an environment. Chart definitions can be saved for easy re-use. These charts will display rhyme, onset, and code syllable patterns
• Filters can be used to limit inventories to single syllable items allowing for an charting of tone and syllable patterns.

Charts and search results can be exported as HTML, XLingPaper, Word XML or Rich Text Format (RTF) for incorporation into web pages or pasting into documents. For a detailed review, see the Reviews tab.