clause-level
|clause-lev-el|
🇺🇸
/ˈklɔzˌlɛvəl/
🇬🇧
/ˈklɔːzˌlɛvəl/
at the scale of clauses
Etymology
'clause-level' originates from modern English as a compound of 'clause' and 'level'. 'Clause' comes from Latin 'clausula', and 'level' comes from Old French 'nivel' (ultimately from Latin 'libella').
'clause' changed from Latin 'clausula' → Old French/Middle English forms (e.g. 'claus', 'clause') and eventually became the modern English 'clause'. 'level' evolved from Old French 'nivel' (via Medieval Latin/Vulgar Latin '*libella') into Middle English and then modern 'level'. The compound 'clause-level' is a recent, technical formation in linguistics and related fields.
Initially, 'clausula' meant 'a little closing' (a rhetorical or grammatical ending) and 'level' referred to a balancing device or horizontal plane; over time both came to denote linguistic units/tiers, and the compound 'clause-level' now specifically means 'at the scale of clauses'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the level of clauses within a hierarchy of linguistic structure; the position or scale referring to clauses.
The study compared clause-level phenomena across languages.
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Adjective 1
relating to or measured at the level of individual clauses (as opposed to word-level, sentence-level, or discourse-level).
We performed clause-level annotation to mark tense and aspect.
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Last updated: 2026/01/09 07:58