This is a lexical database tool tailored for phonological research. Database fields include transcriptions, glosses, hyperlinks to speech files, and images of pitch contours. The forms permit powerful searching on any combination of fields. The notation is extended to provide better support for phonological searches, such as search for minimal pairs - words which are identical but for a certain key feature. Results are then presented back to the user in the form of HTML or LaTeX tables.
Tables have up to four dimensions, and there is an elegant system for specifying their structure.
The tool offers a number of advantages over traditional methods of analysis. First, it supports a quantitative method for carrying out phonological research. Secondly, it permits universal access to the same set of informants, enabling researchers around the world to hear the original speech data without having to rely on published transcriptions. The hyperlexicon thus provides an eminently practical means of bridging the gap between theory and data which had become so obvious in the case of Dschang. Downstep is a pitch-lowering phenomenon found in many languages, including English.