langemissuund

Langemissuund is a term used in linguistics and conlang studies to denote a hypothetical prosodic-phonological phenomenon in which the duration of segments within long multisyllabic words is systematically adjusted to mark focus, boundary, or salience. In its typical description, langemissuund involves lengthening of the initial vowel of a stressed, compound, or otherwise morphologically long word when it occupies a prominent discourse position. The effect is perceptible as an extended onset, which speakers may convey through slower articulation or wider pitch excursion, and it may interact with vowel harmony and syllable-timing patterns.

Etymology: The term is a neologism created for typological discussion; it has no basis in a named natural language and is used primarily to illustrate how prosodic cues could interact with morphosyntactic structure in conjectural systems.

Applications and examples: Langemissuund is primarily discussed in the context of constructed languages and speculative typology. In a representative example, a fictitious word like katafarm becomes kaaatafarm when focused or contrasted, with the initial vowel extended to signal emphasis. In natural language data, researchers would test for cross-language variability in the presence or absence of such lengthening and its perceptual salience.

See also: vowel length, prosody, focus marking, constructed languages, phonology.