Zero (linguistics)

In linguistics, a zero is a constituent needed in analysis but not realized in speech. Specifically in phonology, it refers to an element that is phonologically null. This implies that there is a lack of an element where a theory would expect one. It is usually written with the symbol "∅", in Unicode U+2205 ∅ Empty set (HTML ∅ · ∅). A common ad hoc solution is to use the Scandinavian capital letter Ø instead.

There are several kind of zeros.

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