Speech segmentation

The segmentation (or segmentation ) is in linguistics a decomposition of complex units (eg, sentences or words ) in their elements (segments), which in turn classified, ie according to certain criteria - the meaning and / or function - can be arranged.

The segmentation is used to analyze linguistic units. This is the basis the classification of the components of linguistic units, ie the assignment to specific categories. The segmentation and classification assume that the language is an ordered system whose elements relate to each other in certain relations. Starting from Ferdinand de Saussure, the founder of structural linguistics, segmenting and classifying the structuralist linguistics characterizing methods.

The analysis method of the segmentation can be used on different linguistic levels:

• On the word level, it is used to morpheme analysis,
• According to the level of the phoneme
• On the sentence level, the set ( element) analysis.

Segmentation in morphology

The words of a text can be about (segmented =) in syllables or morphs, and other units (letters, phone, phonemes ... ) disassembled. The segmentation is used to gain the basic units of which with certain rules, the larger units are built. A method for Morphsegmentierung the German introduces Best (2001); it presupposes a not entirely untrained agent. An automatic Morphsegmentierungsverfahren found in Langer, whose error rate is 7.24% with the author himself indicates ( Langer 1991: 81).

Through this method of analysis to get to the respective smaller units: the smallest meaningful parts of a linguistic system are called morphs. The sentence The fisherman fishes, in the following segments ( morphs ) are broken down: d- ,-er, - fish, - he, fish - and -t. The next step must be followed by such a segmentation, is to classify the morphs to morphemes. It would turn out that the two morphs fish - to include same morpheme, the two morphs, but he did not: the first - he in d- he is a Deklinationsendung with the grammatical function " nominative singular masculine ", the second a derivative program with the function, the fish - derived from the verb root Occupation fish it.

Segmentation in phonology

Also in phonetics and in phonology is this procedure shall apply: Thus one that gets to the smallest meaningful differentiating unit in a word, the phoneme. The segmentation and classification methods of structuralist linguistics (taxonomy ) are in use on phonetics and phonology of Bunting (1981: 75ff. ) Described.

Segmentation in the syntax

In the syntax, the segmentation of a sentence noting syntactic units that can then be classified in a second step as a set of elements used. A further segmentation leads to the fine structure of the sentence.

To determine the syntactic units of a particular set of American structuralism has developed tests: see Konstituententest.