Segmentniveau

Segmentniveau is a term used in linguistics, particularly in Dutch-language literature, to describe the level of linguistic analysis that focuses on speech segments. In this context, segments refer to individual units such as phones or phonemes, which are the building blocks of spoken language. At the segmentniveau, phonetic and phonological features of these units—such as voicing, place and manner of articulation for consonants, or height, backness and rounding for vowels—are analyzed and described.

This level is distinct from suprasegmental or prosodic levels, which govern features that span larger units, such as syllables, stress, intonation and rhythm. While the segmentniveau concerns discrete, segment-sized units, the suprasegmental level addresses the organization and patterns that extend over multiple segments. The two levels are complementary in many analyses of speech and language.

Applications of segmentniveau appear in phonetic transcription, phonology, and speech technology. In transcription, analysts label and compare individual segments to capture contrasts and assimilations. In speech recognition and synthesis, segment-level representations model the sequence and features of phonemes to produce or identify spoken input. The concept also supports discussions of segmental phenomena such as allophony, phonotactics at the segment level, and segmental coarticulation.

See also: phoneme, phone, suprasegmental, phonology, articulatory phonetics, speech perception.