What is an environment?

Definition
	An environment is all the parts of an utterance that directly surround a given sound.

Discussion
	The environment of a sound may be adjacent sounds, or a break in sound, such as at the beginning or end of a syllable, word or phrase.

Example (English)
	Here is an example of the environment of the sound [Q] in the English word tap.
	word: [tHQp] ‘tap’ environment: [tH…p]

Example (Spanish)
	Here is an example of the environment of the sound [o] in the Spanish word gato.
	word: [gAto] ‘cat’ environment: [gat…#]
	(The symbol “#” represents the end of a word.)

Context for this page:

Concept module: environment
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): E
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 2 February 2004

© 2004 SIL International