Glossary: morphology and phonology

A sound produced with air flowing through the nasal passages. An example of a nasal consonant is [m] and an example of a nasal vowel is [ã].

The large cavity above the roof of the mouth, connected to the upper part of the pharynx at the rear and having the nostrils at the front.

A vowel sound produced without velic closure so that air escapes simultaneously though the oral and the nasal cavity. Also nasalised vowel.

See nasal vowel.

A set of speech sounds that behaves similarly, for instance in a historical sound change or synchronic process (e.g. all obstruents, all voiceless stops, all front vowels, etc.).

A new lexeme that is attested, but had not previously been observed in the language.

The study of how language is represented and processed in the brain.

In gender systems, one of the genders (cf. feminine, masculine).

If a language has two sounds which are distinct in one environment (e.g. word-initially), and not distinct in another environment (e.g. word-finally, or when not stressed, or in another particular position), then the distinction between the sounds is said to be neutralized in that environment. For instance, English has distinct t and d word-initially (as proven by minial pairs, such town and down) as well as word-finally (e.g. sent and send). After /s/, however, the distinction between the two sounds is neutralized: only /t/ appears (stem vs. *sdem).

In languages with grammatical case, the one typically used for subjects.