aphaeresis 29

complementaries. It is a matter of controversy how many types of opposites

one should usefully recognize in semantic analysis, and the use of the term
antonym must always be viewed with caution.

aorist (n.) (aor, AOR) A term used in the grammatical description of some
languages, referring to a form of the verb with distinctive past-tense or aspectual
functions, especially expressing the lack of any particular completion, duration,
or repetition. For example, in Ancient Greek, the aorist is chiefly a past tense in
the indicative mood, but expresses aspectual meanings in other moods. In the
traditional grammar of some modern languages (e.g. Bulgarian) it is restricted
to perfectivity in the past tense. The term aoristic is sometimes used in place of
perfective as part of the cross-linguistic discussion of aspect.

aoristic (adj.) see aorist

A-over-A (adj.) A term introduced by Noam Chomsky in the 1960s to charac-

terize a condition imposed on the operation of certain grammatical trans-
formations. The A-over-A principle (or condition) states that if a transformation
applies to a structure of the form [s . . . [A . . . ]A . . . ]s then for any category A
it must be interpreted as applying to the maximal phrase of the type A. Later
work made use of the notion of subjacency. See Chomskyan.

aperiodic (adj.) see period

aperture (n.) A term used in various models of non-linear phonology to

handle contrasts involving openness of articulation. In particle phono-
logy, for example, aperture is a privative feature (particle) representing open-
ness, and symbolized by [a]. Differences in vowel height are characterized by
combinations of aperture particles: for example, combining [a] with palatal [i]
results in a relatively open palatal vowel, such as [e]. In a constriction
model of phonology, aperture refers to the degree of constriction imposed on a
vocoid (a vowel or a glide), which dominates vowel height features. It is one
of the two main parameters of classification for vocoids (the other being place).
The superordinate node is called the aperture node. In some approaches, con-
tour segments have been analysed as sequences of aperture nodes. A threefold
classification is recognized: the total absence of oral airflow (as in oral stops), a
degree of aperture sufficient to produce air turbulence (as in fricatives), and a
degree of aperture insufficient to produce turbulence (as in oral sonorants).

apex (n.) A term used in phonetics for the end-point of the tongue (also
known as the tip), used in the articulation of a few speech sounds, such as
the trilled [r], or some varieties of dental (apico-dental) sounds. Such sounds
could then be classified as apical.

aphaeresis /vcf}vrvs}s/ (n.) A term used in comparative philology, and some-

times in modern phonology, to refer to the deletion of an initial sound in a
word; often contrasted with syncope and apocope. Examples include the
historical loss of /k/ in knife and such contractions as Ive. Aphesis is a type of
aphaeresis the loss of an unstressed vowel at the beginning of a word (gain).