unpacking

noun

1. (linguistics) The separation of the features of a segment (such as a nasal vowel or palatal consonant) into distinct segments; for example, the separation of a nasal vowel such as /ɑ̃/ into a vowel /ɑ/ and a nasal consonant /n/ (i.e., into /ɑn/) which often occurs when a language which does not use nasal vowels borrows from a language which does use them.

2. The act by which something is unpacked.

verb

1. present participle of unpack