Glossary: morphology and phonology

In languages with case, the one likely to be assigned to indirect objects.

A formation whose base is an adjective.

A logarithmic measure of sound power connection to the notion of “loudness.” The decibel (abbreviated Db) is the minimum difference in sound power necessary for the average human to hear a difference.

In mood systems, the mood that indicates that the proposition expressed is an unqualified statement of fact.

In some languages, the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives for categories such as case, gender, and number.

Gradual intonational pitch fall over the course of an utterance. See also downdrift.

A default rule is a rule that applies in the general case, when no other, more specific rule applies.

A default vowel is a vowel that is inserted, for instance, to break up a consonant cluster. Default means: what happens if no other, more specific circumstances interfere. The quality of such a vowel may differ from language to language (it is often schwa, or barred i, but may also be /e/, or even other vowels).

A type of vowel system, found in relatively few languages, that does not conform to the Vowel Dispersion Principle, either because it lacks open vowels, or because there is an asymmetry of front and back vowels in the mid vowel system.

A phonological rule or process which reduces the length of a geminate consonant to that of a single consonant.

An inflectional feature of adjectives having to do with comparison of gradable properties (see also: comparative, superlative).

The narrowness of the space between the active articulator and the passive articulator during the production of a sound.

Stress is said to have a demarcative function in the sense that it is often used to signal word boundaries. In such cases, stress occurs on a fixed syllable at the edge of the word. When in such languages listeners hear stressed syllables, they know that there must be a word boundary.

A formation whose base is a noun is called denominal.

Place of articulation of a consonant produced by contact with the teeth.

An element in a compound or syntactic phrase that modifies the head.

The creation of a new lexeme from one or more other lexemes through the application of some morphological process, such as affixation or compounding. Also called lexeme formation and word formation. Derivation contrasts with inflection.

A formation whose base is a verb.

Of a sound normally voiced, produced without vocal fold vibration for part or all of its duration.

Related to language change over time (cf. synchronic).

A small mark placed near or attached to a phonetic symbol which is used to indicate that the sound the phonetic symbol indicates is modified, or to supply further phonetic detail. For instance, a small circle below the phonetic symbol /m/ indicates the nasal is voiceless. Other diacritics include symbols for aspiration, nasalization or syllabicity.

Denoting a smaller (or otherwise pragmatically special) version of the base, usually a noun, e.g. English piglet from pig.

A diphone is a unit of speech that consists of the second half of one phoneme followed by the first half of the next phoneme, cut out of the word in which they were originally articulated. In this way, diphones contain the transitions from one sound to the next. Diphones form building blocks for synthetic speech.Do not confuse with diphthong.

A combination of two vocoids within the syllable nucleus.

A phonological process which makes two identical segments less alike, e.g. marbre in French corresponds to marble in English. It is thus the opposite of assimilation. Dissimilation often occurs as a historical process (i.e. in language change).

A set of phonetic properties, hypothesized to be universal and the basis for all human language sounds.

A distinctive feature to express variations in place of articulation in fricative sounds. Distributed sounds ([+dist]) are defined articulatorily, as those produced with a stricture that extends for a considerable distance along the direction of the airflow, as in bilabial and palato-alveolar fricatives. Non-distributed sounds ([-dist]) are produced with a relatively short stricture, as in dental and retroflex fricatives. Example: some languages (e.g. Ewe) have a distinction between bilabial and labio-dental fricatives. These are both [labial] but the former are [+dist] and the latter [-dist].

The environments in which a speech sound may occur in a particular language.

Describing a sound articulated with the back (=dorsum) of the tongue.

The back of the tongue.

An articulation in which there are two simultaneous constrictions of the vocal tract. The two constrictions are of equal narrowness (unlike secondary articulation, in which one constriction is narrower than the other). The labial-velars /w kp/ are examples of double articulation.

The tendency for the pitch to fall throughout an intonational phrase.

A contrastive lowering of tone register, notated with a raised exclamation mark or down-arrow (see also upstep).

See number.