Editing Autosegmental phonology (section)

== Tiers ==
The autosegmental formalism deals with several separate linear sequences; because of this, a phonological representation is depicted on several distinct tiers. Each of these tiers shows a different language feature.

=== Segmental tier ===
The autosegmental tier (also "skeletal tier") contains the features that define the [[Segment (linguistics)|segments]] articulated in the phonological representation. The descriptions given in the previous section deal with the segmental tier. In the segmental tier, features are assigned to segments.

=== Timing tier ===
The timing tier contains timing units that define the [[Length (phonetics)|lengths]] of segments in the phonological representation. These timing units are commonly depicted as X's, and are assigned to segments.

=== Stress tier ===
The stress tier contains the features that show the distribution of [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]] in the phonological representation. The features in the stress tier are [+/– stress] and [+/– main], and they are assigned to the stress-bearing units of the language (syllables or moras).

=== Tone tier ===
The tone tier contains the features that show the distribution of [[Tone (linguistics)|tones]] in the phonological representation. The features in the tone tier are [+/– high pitch] and [+/– low pitch], and they are assigned to the tone-bearing units of the language (syllables or moras).