Segment

音段；语段；字段

A term used in phonetics and linguistics primarily to refer to any discrete unit that can be identified, either physically or auditorily, in the stream of speech. Segmentation can take place using either physical or auditory criteria: in the former case, acoustic or articulatory change-points can be identified as boundaries of segments; in latter case, perceptible changes in quality or quantity, often showing the influence of the language’s phonemic units, are the basis of division. ‘Segment’ has developed an abstract sense in generative phonology, where it is used for a mental unit of phonological organization - one of a series of minimal units which, however, are not strung together in a simple linear way. In this model, no physical reality is being segmented.

语音学和语言学主要用来指语流中（物理上或听觉上）可识别的任何一个离散单位。“音段切分”可采用物理标准或听觉标准：前者声学或发音变化点可识别为音段的边界；后者知觉上的音质或音量变化常显示出语言音位单位的影响，可作为切分的依据。“音段”在生成音系学里已变为一个抽象单位，指音系组织的心理单位—一系列最小单位之一，但不是以简单的线性方式串接在一起。在这种模型中并没有有形的实体被切分。