Juncture

Juncture, in linguistics, is the manner of moving (transition) between two successive syllables in speech. An important type of juncture is the suprasegmental phonemic cue by means of which a listener can distinguish between two otherwise identical sequences of sounds that have different meanings. There are several kinds of juncture, the most widely used typology of which is: plus junctureAlso known as open juncture, this is subdivided into internal open juncture and external open juncture. It is the juncture that occurs at word boundaries. In phonetic transcription open juncture is transcribed /+/, hence the name plus juncture. close junctureAlso known as a normal transition, this is a transition between segments (sounds) within a word. terminal junctureAlso known as falling, clause terminal or terminal contour, this is the juncture at the end of a clause or utterance with falling pitch before a silence. Other less common typologies exist, such as the division (favoured by American Structuralist linguists in the middle twentieth century) into plus, single bar, double bar, and double cross junctures, denoted /+/, //, //, and /#/ respectively. These correspond to syllabification and differences in intonation, single bar being a level pitch before a break, double bar being an upturn in pitch and a break, and double cross being a downturn in pitch that usually comes at the end of an utterance. In English, a syllable break at the plus juncture sometimes distinguishes otherwise homophonic phrases. "a name" ə.neɪm and "an aim" ən.eɪm "that stuff" ðæt.stʌf and "that's tough" ðæts.tʌf "fork handles" and "four candles" A word boundary preceded or followed by a syllable break is called an external open juncture. If there is no break, so that words on either side of the juncture are run together, the boundary is called an internal open juncture. The distinction between open and close juncture is the difference between "night rate", naɪt.reɪt with the open juncture between t and r, and "nitrate", naɪ.treɪt with close juncture between t and r.