unpacking

To remove from a package or container, particularly with respect to items that had previously been arranged closely and securely in a pack.

“They didn't have time to unpack their bags before going out to dinner.”

To empty containers that had been packed.

“They didn't have time to unpack before going to dinner.”

To analyze a concept or a text.

(of a segment such as a vowel) To undergo separation of its features into distinct segments.

To decompress.

The act by which something is unpacked.

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.