phonematic unit

One of the two analytic categories used in the FIRTHIAN theory of PROSODIC PHONOLOGY, the other being the PROSODY. Phonematic UNITS comprise CONSONANTS and VOWELS, occurring in LINEAR SEQUENCE, which cannot be handled in terms of prosodies. Despite the resemblance of the term to PHONEME, the two terms are conceptually quite different, as no attempt is made with this unit to analyze speech totally into a single system of phonological OPPOSITIONS, valid for all places in structure (as is the case with the phoneme), and some features which would be included in a phonemic analysis would not be included in an analysis into phonematic features (e.g. lip-ROUNDING).