discontinuous (adj.)

A term used by Jakobson and Halle in their DISTINCTIVE FEATURE theory of PHONOLOGY to refer to sounds produced with a complete CLOSURE of the VOCAL TRACT, as in PLOSIVES. Its opposite is CONTINUANT, used to characterize FRICATIVES, VOWELS, etc.

In GRAMMATICAL analysis, discontinuity refers to the splitting of a CONSTRUCTION by the insertion of another grammatical UNIT. Discontinuous constructions or constituents are illustrated by the way the PARTICLE in some PHRASAL VERBS may be separated from the LEXICAL ELEMENT, e.g. switch on ⇒ switch the light on, by the double NEGATIVE system in some languages (French ne . . . pas, Welsh nid . . . ddim, etc.), or by the separation of AUXILIARY verb and main verb in QUESTION forms in English (e.g. is he coming?). Some analysts make use of the notion of a discontinuous morph(eme), as when Arabic ROOT forms are identified by the CONSONANTS they contain, each of which is separated by a VOWEL (e.g. k-t-b ‘write’). A discontinuity grammar is a logic grammar FORMALISM which allows relationships between widely separated constituents to be stated within a single grammatical RULE; there are several types (e.g. extraposition grammars, gapping grammars, static discontinuity grammars).

In language ACQUISITION, the term refers to the view, primarily proposed by the American linguist Roman JAKOBSON, that the sounds of babbling bear no direct relationship to later PHONOLOGICAL development. The discontinuity hypothesis is opposed to the better-supported ‘continuity’ hypothesis, which argues that languages gradually select from the range of sounds used in babbling. The term is also used in child language acquisition (especially in relation to PHONOLOGY) to describe a situation where new learning (e.g. acquiring a new phonological RULE) interferes with established ability, causing a temporary disturbance in the development of speech production.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم صناعة الشبابيك يشرع بإدامة شباكين قديمين لمرقد الإمامين العسكريين (عليهما السلام)

فرقة العباس (عليه السلام) تختتم خدماتها المقدمة للزائرين في سامراء

موكب العتبتين المقدستين يحيي ذكرى استشهاد الإمام الهادي (عليه السلام) في سامراء

العتبة العسكرية المقدسة تكرّم وفد العتبة العباسية المقدسة لمشاركته في تقديم الخدمات للزائرين

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

كنز غذائي على طبقك.. ماذا تفعل السبانخ بجسمك؟

ما لا يتوقعه أحد.. "سر غذائي" في الجبن الدسم

لتحسين الهضم والنوم.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول العشاء

10 طرق بسيطة وغير مألوفة لحرق المزيد من السعرات يوميا

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

سابقة بعالم الطيران.. طائرة تقرر الهبوط بنفسها بعد ظرف طارئ

"الإنفلونزا الخارقة" تكتسح دول العالم.. وتثير قلقا كبيرا

مرحلة ما قبل الأعراض.. دواء جديد يستهدف "شرارة" الزهايمر

إزالة ثاني أكسيد الكربون من الغلاف الجوي.. ما دور المحيطات والبحار؟

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Spelling and Pronunciation SUMMARY

American English vs. British English

Morphological Basis of English Spelling

Phoneme–Grapheme Correspondences in English Vowels

Phoneme–Grapheme Correspondences in English Consonants

Spelling and Pronunciation Irregularity of English Spelling

Structural Factors in Second Language Phonology SUMMARY

Perception

Optimality Theory (OT)

Ontogeny Phylogeny Model (OPM)

Markedness

Hypercontrast