suprasegmental, a. and n. Linguistics.
(ˌs(j)uːprəsɛgˈmɛntəl)
[f. supra- 4 a + segmental a. 2 c.]
A. adj. Designating a feature or features of a sound or sequence of sound other than those constituting the consonantal and vocalic segments, as stress, pitch, and intonation in English.
| 1941 Trager & Bloch in Language XVII. 224 These two kinds of phonemes [sc. juncture and prosodic phonemes] are usually recognizable only as modifications of other sound-types; they are suprasegmental. 1942 C. F. Hockett in Language XVIII. 8 Features..which clearly extend over a series of several segmental groupings are suprasegmental. 1942, 1952 [see prosodic a. 2]. 1953 [see intrasegmental s.v. intra- 1]. 1968 P. Kratochv{iacu}l Chinese Lang. Today ii. 35 The most striking suprasegmental feature of MSC syllables is the characteristic contour known as the tone. 1971 [see prosodeme]. 1975 N. Chomsky Logical Struct. Linguistic Theory iii. 111 In this study, suprasegmental features (pitch, stress, juncture) have not been seriously considered. |
B. n. A suprasegmental feature.
| 1955 N. Chomsky Logical Struct. Linguistic Theory (microfilm, Mass. Inst. Technol.) vii. 278 It has often been suggested that constituent structure be determined by considerations involving suprasegmentals. 1965 Word Study Feb. 2/2 Structural and contextual meanings are signaled largely by intonational clues, by such suprasegmentals as pitch, stress, and juncture. 1975 Language LI. 737 How we perceive duration, pitch, and intensity is an area that seldom receives serious attention in the literature on suprasegmentals. 1981 Amer. Speech LVI. 306 A summary of paralanguage, including suprasegmentals, hesitation phenomena, and nonlinguistic sounds. |
Hence ˌsuprasegˈmentally adv., in terms of suprasegmental features.
| 1957 S. Potter Modern Linguistics v. 105 Sentences may be described suprasegmentally in respect of the prosodemes of length, stress and pitch. 1970 J. W. Gair Colloq. Sinhalese Clause Structures vi. 133 The focus may be marked only suprasegmentally, even if the form of the predicator indicates that the focus is elsewhere in the clause. |