LINGUIST List 12.2300

Wed Sep 19 2001

Books: Phonology: Modified Issue 12.2211-1

Editor for this issue: Richard John Harvey <richardlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Sean Hanrahan, Modified Issue 12.2211-1: Phonology

Auditory Representations in Phonology
Edward S. Flemming, Stanford University 


This book presents evidence for a model of phonology in
which words have both auditory and articulatory
representations, with different constraints applying to each
type of representation. The main constraints on auditory
representations require contrasting sounds to be auditorily
distinct from each other, i.e. these constraints implement
a preference that contrasts should be easy for listeners to
discriminate. This traditional notion is formalized in
Optimality Theoretic terms as part of a general theory of
the selection of contrasting sounds. The distinctiveness
constraints interact with others (such as effort
minimization and constraints relating to stress) to derive a
variety of phonological phenomena, e.g. allophonic variation
to maintain the distinctiveness of a contrast in different
contexts, and neutralization in contexts where a contrast
would be indistinct. The model is exemplified through the
analysis of such patterns, drawn from a wide variety of
languages. Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics series.

December 2001: 144 pp
Hb: 0815340419: $65.00 #45

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. The Dispersion Theory of Contrast
3. Ways of Maximizing Distinctiveness
4. Consonant-Vowel Assimilation
5. Neutralization
6. Minimization of Allomorphy
7. Conclusions
References
Index