Phonology and morphology glossary

A foot type that dislays a weak-strong stress pattern, as in the Engl. word balloon (cf. trochee).

A group of words whose meaning is not compositional.

Sentence type (or morphological mood) expressing an order, or request.

In contrast to the perfect aspect (see aspect), which expresses the completedness of an action or state, the imperfective is a verb form that expresses an action or state that has not ceased or been completed. In many languages, the imperfective is used only to refer to actions or states in the past, and thus it encodes both tense and aspect.

The relation where the presence of one property in a language is a necessary precondition for the presence of some other property.

A stop consonant formed by creating a vacuum within the mouth, by constricting and lowering the larynx. When the oral constriction is released, with audible plosion, air rushes into the mouth.

Indicates a relationship such that the possessor of an object cannot be changed; body parts are classic examples of inalienably possessed objects.

A deadjectival verb expressing the derivational meaning ‘begin to be Adj., become Adj.’, e.g. English whiten from the adjective white.

Said of first person plural pronouns whose reference includes the addressee. Contrast exclusive.

In mood systems, the mood that expresses that an event is considered as occurring in reality.

In case systems, the case that expresses the meaning ‘inside of’.

A nonfinite verb form that can often be used a subject or object of a sentence (e.g. 'Partir, c'est mourir un peu').

An infix is a type of affix that does not occur exactly at the beginning of a word (like a prefix) or the end of a word (like a suffix) (i.e. precisely at one of the edges of a morphological root or stem), but rather inside a root or stem (e.g. Tagalog um in gr-um-adwet 'graduates').

The formation of grammatical forms of a single lexeme. Is, are, and being are examples of inflected forms of the lexeme be.

Low frequency vibration below the lower frequency limit of normal human hearing.

Of an airstream: one that pulls air into the vocal tract.

The case that expresses the means by which an action is accomplished.

The amount of acoustic energy in a sound.

A semantically empty affix that occurs between the two members of a N + N compound (especially in German and some other European languages), e.g. the [ s ] in English swordsman or Dutch schaapsherder 'shepherd'.

In mood systems, the mood that questions the veracity of a statement.

Sentence rhythm.

The part of an utterance over which a particular intonation pattern extends. There may be one or more tone groups in an English sentence.

A verb that does not take a direct object, e.g., English fall.

International Phonetic Alphabet, or International Phonetic Association.

Term applied to languages with little morphology, where grammatical concepts such as tense are expressed by separate words.

An approach to morphology in which words are broken up into their component morphemes.

A processual approach to morphology. Instead of seeing complex words as arrangements of morphemes, item-and process sees a complex word as arising out of a simple form that has undergone one or more processes or functions.

"Repeating" - an iterative stress system is one in which a secondary stress appears on every other syllable (e.g. the first, third, fifth, etc.). This indicates that multiple feet are assigned, not just one. Rules can also apply iteratively, indicating that they apply more than once.