Prosody (Firthian)

In J. R. Firth's approach to phonology, a prosody is a feature that has as its domain more than a segment.

• "We may abstract those features which mark word or syllable initials and word or syllable finals or word junctions from the word, piece, or sentence, and regard them syntagmatically as prosodies, distinct from the phonematic constituents which are referred to as units of the consonant and vowel systems." (Firth 1948:129)

Polysemy

Prosody can also refer to

• suprasegmental phonology (see prosody)
• metre in verse (see prosody (in verse))

Reference

• Firth, J.R. 1948. Transactions of the Philological Society