Phonology and morphology glossary
Terms that have specialised meaning in phonology and/or morphology.
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LaxVowel produced with a less deliberate, more central or lower articulation. In English, these vowels can occur in monosyllables closed by [ N ], such as sing, length, hang, long, hung. Contrast with tense. | |
LengthThe linguistic use of physical duration to distinguish words. See also geminate. | |
LenisA term that is applied to voiced consonants in some languages, reflecting the fact that such consonants are pronounced with weak muscular tension and not always fully voiced (e.g. in languages like English, where e.g. initial /b/ in bank is only partially voiced). Lenis consonants are sometimes referred to as lax consonants (cf. fortis consonants). | |
LenitionA change of a consonant to reduce the degree of constriction, e.g. the change from a stop to a fricative or glide. | |
Level 1 affixesSee primary affixes. | |
Level 2 affixesSee secondary affixes. | |
LevellingA diachronic, or historical, process by which members in a paradigm become more similar to each other. See also analogy. | |
LexemeA word with a specific sound and a specific meaning. Its shape may vary depending on syntactic context. See also citation form. | |
Lexical accessThe mental process of looking up a word in the lexicon. | |