Phonology and morphology glossary

The part of the tongue below the soft palate.

Vowel in which the body of the tongue is in the back part of the oral cavity (mouth). The vowels [ u, o] are examples of back vowels.

A morphological process in which a real or imagined affix is removed from an existing word to create another, e.g., editor > edit, liaison > liaise.

A scale in which equal intervals of pitch as perceived by listeners are represented by equal distance on the scale.

The root or stem to which an affix attaches.

A valence-changing operation that creates a new direct object argument for the participant who is the beneficiary of the action.

An aerodynamic principle involved in vibration of the vocal folds. Air pressure from the lungs opens the glottis during each vibration. The folds come together again during each vibration because of their inherent elasticity and the sudden pressure drop between the folds as the air streams through the open glottis.

The name of a place of articulation. The articulators are the upper and lower lips. [p b m] are examples of bilabial sounds.

Of phonological features: taking one of two opposite values. For example, speech sounds may be classified as [+nasal] if they are made with the velum lowered or [-nasal] if they are not.

The part of the tongue that lies behind the alveolar ridge when the tongue is at rest.

A word derived by combining parts of two or more other words, e.g., English smog < smoke and fog.

The process by which a potential word is prevented from occurring in a language because another form with the same meaning and function already exists.

A process in which lowerlevel processes are carried out without influence from higher-level processes (for example, perception of phonemes being uninfluenced by the words in which they appear).

A morpheme that may not stand on its own and must be attached to a stem.

A type of phonation in which the pattern of vocal fold vibration allows the escape of relatively large amounts of air in each cycle of vibration, producing audible noise along with voicing. Sometimes referred to as murmur.

An aphasia characterized by deficits in language production. Also called expressive aphasia.

A brain region in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere. Damage to this region leads to Broca’s aphasia.