Glossary: morphology and phonology

The auditory property known as r-coloring that results from the lowering of the third formant.

(Or: rime) The part of the syllable consisting of the vowel (nucleus) and the following consonant(s). In the English word cram, for instance, the rhyme is /am/.

See trill.

The basic form from which another is derived by internal change or by addition of inflectional or derivational morphemes.

A type of morphology found especially in the Semitic languages where roots consist of a series of consonants, and derived and inflected forms are created by superimposing the root on a vocalic pattern. The pattern may also include certain consonants, although these can sometimes be analyzed as prefixes or suffixes.

A sound produced with protruded (=rounded) lips.

Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet, a computer-readable phonetic script using common ASCII characters, based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

The frequency at which samples are taken from a waveform for the purposes of digitising speech. For example, a sample rate of 44,100 Hz (which corresponds to CD quality) means that each second of a waveform is represented by 44,100 equally spaced samples.

Assimilation at word boundaries (see also tone sandhi).

The unrounded, mid, central vowel that corresponds to the unstressed vowel in words like English police. In many languages this vowel fulfills the role of a default and/or hesitation vowel.