delayed (adj.)

One of the features of sound set up by Chomsky and Halle in their DISTINCTIVE FEATURE theory of PHONOLOGY, as part of the phrase delayed release (DEL REL), to handle variations in MANNER OF ARTICULATION, specifying the nature of a sound’s RELEASE. Delayed release sounds are defined both ARTICULATORILY and ACOUSTICALLY, as those sounds where a sound is produced with a gradual release sufficient to make a sound similar to a FRICATIVE, as in AFFRICATES. Affricates are all [+delayed release] ([+del rel]). Its opposite is INSTANTANEOUS or ABRUPT release, referring to a sound released suddenly and without the ACOUSTIC turbulence of a fricative, as in PLOSIVES.