Suprasegmentals and Paralanguage: What are they?

Supra is a prefix with Latin origin that means above, over, on top, greater than, or transcending.

Segmentals are the parts of speech that can be cleanly separated from one another, mainly the phones themselves.

Suprasegmentals could be simply defined as the aspects of language that transcend the segmental; the ingredients of communication that overlay our words such as: tone, intonation, and sometimes nasalization, vowel length and aspiration.

I think as the study of discourse is gaining attention in linguistic circles other aspects of communication are rising to the attention of language analysts, teachers and learners such as: facial expression, gestures, pauses, and expressive utterances.  These along with intonation are often referred to as paralanguage.

Tomorrow I will explore reasons why suprasegmentals and paralanguage deserve significant attention in language learning.