breath group (n.)

A stretch of UTTERANCE produced within a single expiration of breath. Where and how often one breathes while speaking can be of significance for the LINGUIST, in that the breathing pattern will impose a series of PAUSES on the utterance, and these will need to be related to PHONOLOGICAL, GRAMMATICAL and SEMANTIC structure. Within each breath group, also, it is possible that certain regularities exist, such as a predictable pattern of PROMINENCE or RHYTHM, and some investigators have used this notion as part of their study of a language’s PROSODY (though terms such as TONE UNIT are here more widely used). More recently, the term has been used as a means of identifying the earliest VOCALIZATION units in infants.