Phonology and morphology glossary

A membrane stretched across the auditory canal and dividing the outer ear from the middle ear. The eardrum converts pressure variation into mechanical movement.

A phonetic force that impacts linguistic sound systems so that patterns that are easier to produce are more likely than difficult patterns.

Of an airstream: one that pushes air out of the vocal tract.

A stop consonant produced by raising the larynx with the glottis closed, which creates pressure in the oral cavity. When the oral constriction is released, relatively powerful plosion noise is heard. Also referred to as glottalization.

In case systems, the case that expresses the meaning ‘motion away from’.

An instrumental technique for investigating the pattern of contact of the tongue with the roof of the mouthduring speech sounds. Tongue contact is recorded by electrodes embedded in an artificial palate worn by the speaker.

The deletion of one sound under the influence of another (e.g. French ce est --> c'est).

A clitic which occurs on the right side of its host, e.g. English 'em in brand 'em (cf. proclitic). English possessive 's (Jack's) is also an enclitic.

See suffix.

Said of compound words that have a head. For example, the head of school bus is bus; a school bus is a type of bus. See also head.

Another word for the velar nasal.

The sounds preceding and following some other sound.

Insertion of a segment.

A structure in the larynx that covers the entrance to the trachea during swallowing.

The case associated with the subject of a transitive verb. In ergative case systems, subjects of intransitive verbs are assigned absolutive case.

In case systems, the case that indicates a state of being.

Said to occur when phonological material takes on a new function unrelated to its original and obsolete function.

Said of first person plural pronouns whose reference excludes the addressee. Contrast inclusive.

The theory that phonetic categories (and words) are represented in the mind as a set of all of the examples of the category that the speaker has produced and/or heard.

Said of compound words without a head. For example, a hot dog is not a type of dog. See also head.

The relation between a morpheme and its signified meaning, which is simple if the meaning is a single concept, cumulative if the meaning is complex, or extended if more than one morpheme combine to denote a single concept.

The marker of a given morphosyntactic feature. For example, [s] is the exponent of plural in the word kits.

See exponence.

The notion of leaving a syllable (on the left or right edge of a word) unparsed (i.e. excluded from the foot structure), to reflect the fact that it is never stressed. In Macedonian, for instance, stress is antepenultimate, which can be analysed by leaving the final syllable extrametrical and assigning a trochaic foot.