suprasegmental
noun
- phonological feature of an utterance other than the consonantal and vocalic components
adjective
- pertaining to a phonological feature of an utterance other than the consonantal and vocalic components
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˌsuːp.ɹə.sɛɡˈmɛn.təl/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Italic *super Proto-Italic *superos Proto-Italic *superād Old Latin suprād Latin suprā Latin supra-lbor. English supra- English segment Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English segmental English suprasegmental From supra- + segmental.
- Of or relating to a suprasegmental.
“There are two kinds of phonemes in Chinese: segmental phonemes, which may be thought of as sequential sounds, and suprasegmental phonemes or tones, which in a sense are added to the syllable as a whole.”
- More than a segment.
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Italic *super Proto-Italic *superos Proto-Italic *superād Old Latin suprād Latin suprā Latin supra-lbor. English supra- English segment Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English segmental English suprasegmental From supra- + segmental.
- An effect on speech, such as length, stress, tone, and phonation type, that extends over more than one segment of sounds.