Phonology and morphology glossary

The skill associated with using a language appropriately and effectively in various social situations.

In degree systems, the degree with the meaning ‘having a higher degree, more’.

Sometimes when a consonant is deleted (especially if it is in the coda, and especially if it is a sonorant), a (usually preceding) short vowel becomes long; this is referred to as compensatory lengthening. This process usually takes place historically, i.e. in language change.

The knowledge that speakers have of their language. Contrasts with performance.

Two sounds are said to be in complementary distribution in a particular language if they can never appear in the same phonetic environment. For example, aspirated stops in English always appear in absolute syllable-initial position in a stressed syllable, while unaspirated stops appear in other positions. Thus, these two types of allophones are in complementary distribution.

A morphological form that consists of more than one morpheme, whether it be two or more stems (compound word) or a stem plus one or more affixes, e.g., bookstore, optimality.

Defined (e.g., a word) entirely in terms of its parts.

A derived form resulting from the combination of two or more lexemes, e.g., space + ship > spaceship.

The rise in air pressure in an enclosed space caused by a decrease in the size of the space without outflow of air.

Term that describes morphology that builds words by the linear addition of morphemes (contrast non-concatenative).