Prosodic characteristics mainly involve syllable reduction and fusion of movement. As described in PHONOLOGY 3.2.2, syllables may be reduced in compounds. One of the elements may, for example, lose or reduce one or more of its movements. The sign vegetables, for instance, loses its repeated movement when it is used in the compound vegetables^farmer ‘greengrocer’.
Movements of signs may also be affected in other ways, e.g. melt together to form one movement, and/or the transitional movement between the two elements can be reanalyzed as the sole movement of the compound sign. See PHONOLOGY 3.2.2.