Lallungamento

Lallungamento is a term used in Italian linguistics to denote the prolongation of speech sounds beyond their normal duration. It covers vowel lengthening, consonant prolongation (gemination) and broader prosodic elongation, which speakers may produce for emphasis, emotion, or style. The exact phonetic and functional status of lallungamento varies across languages: in some languages length contrasts are phonemic (distinguishing meaning), while in others length is strictly a prosodic or allophonic feature.

In language development, lallungamento is associated with early vocal play in infants, commonly described as lallazione or babbling, where syllables are repeated and sounds are lengthened as motor control develops. In mother tongue or regional speech, lallungamento can appear as a characteristic prosodic pattern, sometimes linked to dialect or stylistic register; in singing or performance, it is used deliberately to sustain notes or convey affect.

In clinical or therapeutic contexts, attention to lallungamento may help assess prosodic development or articulation control, and training may focus on breathing, timing, and rhythm to normalize or adjust elongated segments according to communicative intent.

Overall, lallungamento is a broad term for the extension of speech sounds that plays a role in pronunciation, prosody, and language development, with multiple functional realizations depending on language, context, and speaker.