lauseryhmä

Lauseryhmä is a term used in Finnish linguistics and speech science to describe a prosodic and syntactic unit of spoken language. It corresponds to what in many languages is called an intonational phrase or breath group. A lauseryhmä is typically produced with a single breath and exhibits a coherent intonation pattern, often centered around a nucleus of prominence. The boundaries of a lauseryhmä are influenced by syntax and discourse focus, but are also shaped by speaking rate and rhythm. In Finnish analyses, lauseryhmä helps researchers describe how spoken discourse is chunked at the level between clauses and sentences and how prosody signals new information, contrast, or topic changes.

In practice, a lauseryhmä can align with a single clause, or it may cover parts of multiple clauses when the discourse intent and prosody indicate a larger unit. The concept is used in phonology, pragmatics, speech technology, and language teaching to model natural-sounding speech, annotate corpora, and inform speech synthesis and recognition systems about phrase-level prosody.

In Finnish literature and annotation schemes for spoken corpora, the term appears as a way to capture rhythm and grouping in oral language. See also intonational phrase, prosody, Finnish language, and discourse analysis.