The phonetic and/or phonological level is not associated with meaning; there may be some onomatopoeic associations with some sounds in any language (fl- words, sl- words; bang crash etc.) but there are few universal associations.
Sounds may be combined however; concatenated they may have meaning associated with them. This association is arbitrary; there is no inherent connection between sounds and their meanings. ``Die alten Germanen instinktiv wählten spitzige Lauten für spitzige Wörter" (``The ancient Germans instinctively chose sharp sounds for sharp objects" etc.)
We also discover that when sounds are combined into meaningful units certain patterns emerge. At the beginnings of words, stops are aspirated; after s- stops in E. are unaspirated; vowels are longer before voiced consonants than before voiceless consonants. Vcls cons in final position are often unreleased. Final consonants in some languages are devoiced; nasal vowels near nasal consonants may be nasalized.