Glossary: morphology and phonology

The set of forms associated with a verbal lexeme.

A model of cognitive/linguistic processes that assumes (1) a vast interconnected network of information nodes in which each node influences and is influenced by a large number of adjacent nodes and (2) parallel processing of information. Also called parallel distributed processing.

Sounds made with a relatively close constriction or complete closure in the vocal tract, which typically occur alone or in clusters at the beginning or end of syllables.

Agreement with respect to one or more features between consonants that are not adjacent to one another (cf. vowel harmony). Consonant harmony is uncommon in adult languages but frequently reported in child language.

The set of contrastive consonants found in a particular language.

A unit within the structure of a syllable, word or sentence.

A well-formedness condition on phonological structure. Constraints (instead of rules) form the basis of Optimality Theory.

A word such as calendar, sadness, die, speak, quiet, quickly, or tomorrow that refers to objects, events, and abstract concepts; contrasts with function word. Also called lexical word.

See environment.

Said of inflection that involves a simple directional mapping between a morphosyntactic feature and a particular phonological string. An example is the suffix -ing on present participles in English, because all present participles bear the same suffix. Contrasts with context-sensitive inflection.