closed (adj.)

A term sometimes used in the GRAMMATICAL classification of WORDS to refer to one of two postulated major word-CLASSES in language, the other being OPEN. A closed class is one whose membership is fixed or limited. New ITEMS are not regularly added, as is the case with ‘open-class’ items. PRONOUNS, PREPOSITIONS, CONJUNCTIONS, ARTICLES, etc., are all closed class or closed system items, the term ‘system’ here reflecting the fact that the member-ship of such classes is finite, the members displaying an interdependence of MEANING and use.

A term used in the two-way classification of SYLLABLE structure, referring to a syllable ending in a CONSONANT; its opposite is OPEN, where the syllable ends in a vowel. This feature is sometimes referred to as a CHECKED or blocked syllable.