peripheral (adj.)

An application of the general sense of this term in LINGUISTICS, to refer to UNITS or PROCESSES which operate at the margins (periphery) of a STRUCTURE or within a REPRESENTATION. For example, EXTRAMETRICALITY is restricted to the peripheral elements in a STRING, and several kinds of EDGE phenomena have been noted. The term has a particular application in some phonological studies of Australian Aboriginal languages, where it refers to ARTICULATIONS made at the FRONT or BACK of the mouth (as distinct from APICAL and LAMINAL articulations), and is thus equivalent to non-CORONAL.

In ROLE AND REFERENCE GRAMMAR, a term used to identify one of the two basic concepts used in analyzing CLAUSE structure; opposed to core. The peripheral layer contains a range of optional ADJUNCTIVAL elements.