template (n.)

A term used in METRICAL PHONOLOGY for an abstract TREE structure which defines the basic STRUCTURAL possibilities of SYLLABLES in a language. For example, an influential formulation of English syllable structure involves a HIERARCHICAL analysis into an ONSET + NUCLEUS + CODA, with the latter two elements being grouped as a RHYME, and each element consisting of two SEGMENTS.

The term also has a central status in PROSODIC MORPHOLOGY, where it refers to a fixed PHONOLOGICAL shape imposed on varying SEGMENTAL material. Templates are defined in the grammar and realized in the derivation in terms of the units in the prosodic HIERARCHY: MORA, SYLLABLE, FOOT and prosodic WORD. The templatic target may be imposed on any morphological BASE (e.g. STEM, WORD, AFFIX). In REDUPLICATIVE constructions, for example, there might be a prefix with a constant CANONICAL shape (e.g. a heavy syllable), but a varying segmental shape (depending on the base to which it is attached). The template satisfaction condition states that the satisfaction of templatic constraints is obligatory and is determined by prosodic principles. This approach contrasts with segmentalist theories of template form.

A general sense of the term (‘a pattern established as a norm against which other patterns can be measured’) also has a number of applications in specific LINGUISTIC or PHONETIC contexts. For example, in COGNITIVE GRAMMAR, connections between established patterns of neurological activity serve as templates for categorizing expressions. In automatic SPEECH RECOGNITION, templates are the stored, labelled SPECTRA (or the key features of spectra) against which an analysis of the signal to be recognized is matched (template matching).