checked (adj.)

One of the features of sound set up by Jakobson and Halle in their DISTINCTIVE FEATURE theory of PHONOLOGY, to handle SECONDARY ARTICULATIONS – in this case, glottalization. Checked CONSONANTS are defined, both articulatorily and acoustically, as those sounds produced with accompanying GLOTTAL activity, involving a rapid energy discharge in a short time interval. EJECTIVES and IMPLOSIVES, in this view, are [+checked]. The opposite term is unchecked, which applies to all non-glottalized sounds, signalled acoustically by a lower energy discharge over a larger time interval. (2) The term is also found as an alternative to CLOSED, in the description of SYLLABLES: a checked syllable is one ending in a consonant, and a checked vowel is a vowel occurring in such a syllable