/tens/ adj. 1. A frequent but exceedingly ill-defined label applied to certain segments in particular languages which contrast with other, similar, lax segments in a complex manner. The general idea is that tense segments are characterized by greater muscular tension, more extreme movements of the vocal organs, greater duration and greater subglottal air pressure than their lax correlates, but there is frequently little or no evidence for such phonetic correlates, though a few languages, such as Korean, genuinely do appear to possess contrasting consonants which can be realistically described as tense and lax. Tense consonants are also called fortis; tense vowels were formerly called narrow, and are now often labelled [+ATR]. In recent years there has been a marked tendency to try to interpret the tense/lax distinction in terms of glottal and subglottal activity. See Lass (1976: ch. 1, Appendix) and especially Catford (1977:199–208) for a critical examination of the use of this term, and Wood (1975b) for a defence. 2. In the Jakobson-Halle feature system, a distinctive feature defined as ‘exhibiting high energy with greater spread across the spectrum and longer duration’, and interpreted as representing greater deformation of the vocal tract from its rest position.
3. In the SPEfeature system, a distinctive feature defined as ‘produced with a deliberate, accurate, maximally distinct gesture that involves considerable muscular effort’; tense segments are also said to be relatively long. Often invoked in a seemingly arbitrary manner, especially for the purpose of doubling the number of vowel heights available, this feature suffers from the same problems cited in sense 1, and it has now been replaced by the feature ATR, itself suspect for similar reasons, in connection with vowels, while constricted glottis and spreadglottis are often invoked for distinguishing tense and lax consonants. See Sommerstein (1977:104–105) for a critical survey of this feature. 4. (also long) In the phonology of English, a conventional label for all vowels and diphthongs derived from the long vowels of Middle English. Some treatments would also include /æ/ in the tense vowels, even though it is descended from an original short vowel. Abstr. n.tenseness. Ant. (all senses) lax.
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