Gradience, phonology and individual variation

Research over the last few decades has consistently questioned the sufficiency of abstract/discrete phonological representations based on putative misalignments between predictions from such representations and observed experimental results. Here, I’ll first suggest that many of the arguments ride on misunderstandings of the original claims from generative phonology, and that the typical evidence furnished is consistent with those claims. I’ll then narrow in on two phenomena, namely, incomplete neutralisation and near mergers, and show again that they are consistent with the classic generative phonology view. I’ll further point out that extant accounts of the phenomena do not achieve important desiderata and typically do not provide explanations. Finally, I present formalisations and simulations that correctly capture the desiderata for each of the phenomena.

Location: Fowler Museum A139