Glossary: morphology and phonology

Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet, a computer-readable phonetic script using common ASCII characters, based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

The frequency at which samples are taken from a waveform for the purposes of digitising speech. For example, a sample rate of 44,100 Hz (which corresponds to CD quality) means that each second of a waveform is represented by 44,100 equally spaced samples.

Assimilation at word boundaries (see also tone sandhi).

The unrounded, mid, central vowel that corresponds to the unstressed vowel in words like English police. In many languages this vowel fulfills the role of a default and/or hesitation vowel.

In a person system, referring to the addressee(s).

Affixes that do not trigger the types of changes in the stem associated with primary affixes. They typically occur farther away from the stem than primary affixes.

A constriction of the vocal tract that takes place at the same time as a narrower constriction elsewhere. Dark l is an example: this sound has a primary articulation at the alveolar ridge, where the tongue tip makes a full contact. Raising of the tongue towards the soft palate is a narrowing, which makes it a phonetically secondary articulation.

See stress.

A segment is any consonant or vowel. The term is a (theory-neutral) alternative for the concept of phoneme.

The branch of linguistics that deals with meaning in human language.