John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 1. Markedness in substance-free and substance-dependent phonology
Abstract
The true nature of “markedness” in the history of phonology is highly uncertain, in that the term is used to refer to a wide array of facts about language, and there is little agreement over what the term even refers to, much less whether it is a valid concept. This paper reviews certain applications of that concept in phonology, in search of some unity behind “markedness”. I show that “markedness” is about two unrelated things: formal properties of language, and functional probability of occurrence. Much effort has been put into forcing these two conceptions under a single computation umbrella, and that effort bears significant responsibility for the development of substance-dependent theories of grammar. As for whether “markedness” is a worthy topic of investigation, it is argued that the original formal question underlying markedness is still worth scrutiny in the theory of grammar: what is the nature of phonological features?
Abstract
The true nature of “markedness” in the history of phonology is highly uncertain, in that the term is used to refer to a wide array of facts about language, and there is little agreement over what the term even refers to, much less whether it is a valid concept. This paper reviews certain applications of that concept in phonology, in search of some unity behind “markedness”. I show that “markedness” is about two unrelated things: formal properties of language, and functional probability of occurrence. Much effort has been put into forcing these two conceptions under a single computation umbrella, and that effort bears significant responsibility for the development of substance-dependent theories of grammar. As for whether “markedness” is a worthy topic of investigation, it is argued that the original formal question underlying markedness is still worth scrutiny in the theory of grammar: what is the nature of phonological features?
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction ix
- Chapter 1. Markedness in substance-free and substance-dependent phonology 1
- Chapter 2. Contrast is irrelevant in phonology 23
- Chapter 3. What are grammars made of? 47
- Chapter 4. Consonant epenthesis and markedness 69
- Chapter 5. On silent markedness 101
- Chapter 6. The phonetic salience of phonological head-dependent structure in a modulated-carrier model of speech 121
- Chapter 7. Markedness and formalising phonological representations 153
- Chapter 8. Are there brain bases for phonological markedness? 191
- Chapter 9. There is no place for markedness in biologically-informed phonology 219
- Index 233
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction ix
- Chapter 1. Markedness in substance-free and substance-dependent phonology 1
- Chapter 2. Contrast is irrelevant in phonology 23
- Chapter 3. What are grammars made of? 47
- Chapter 4. Consonant epenthesis and markedness 69
- Chapter 5. On silent markedness 101
- Chapter 6. The phonetic salience of phonological head-dependent structure in a modulated-carrier model of speech 121
- Chapter 7. Markedness and formalising phonological representations 153
- Chapter 8. Are there brain bases for phonological markedness? 191
- Chapter 9. There is no place for markedness in biologically-informed phonology 219
- Index 233
