WordWeb Online

1. A word that is treated in pronunciation as forming a part of a neighbouring word and that is often unaccented or contracted.
   "Most languages can adopt theme-rheme structure idiosyncratically — as for English, we often use as for theme constructions — but topic-prominent languages use systematic changes in syntax or even dedicated morpological elements such as the Japanese clitic particle -wa to mark themes and to set them apart from rhemes."

Derived forms: clitics

Type of: morpheme

Encyclopedia: Clitic