Contrastive hierarchies and phonological primes
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B. Elan Dresher
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the main ideas underlying Contrastive Hierarchy Theory (CHT) with a view to identifying important ways in which this theory is similar to and differs from Element Theory (ET). In CHT, contrastive features are computed hierarchically by the Successive Division Algorithm. Two central hypotheses are that only contrastive features can be phonologically active, and that feature hierarchies can vary both synchronically and diachronically. It is argued that CHT overcomes the empirical and conceptual problems faced by innate feature theories; at the same time, it provides an account of why features exist and how many features a language could have that is lacking in many emergent feature theories. I show that CHT and ET both take a middle course between phonetic determinism on one side and substance-free phonology on the other. In both theories, phonological primes are cognitive entities that form a bridge between the mental representations and operations of the phonological component and their external phonetic manifestations. Both theories include markedness as part of the formalism. It is further argued that contrastive hierarchies are not incompatible with ET and have already been implemented in this framework.
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the main ideas underlying Contrastive Hierarchy Theory (CHT) with a view to identifying important ways in which this theory is similar to and differs from Element Theory (ET). In CHT, contrastive features are computed hierarchically by the Successive Division Algorithm. Two central hypotheses are that only contrastive features can be phonologically active, and that feature hierarchies can vary both synchronically and diachronically. It is argued that CHT overcomes the empirical and conceptual problems faced by innate feature theories; at the same time, it provides an account of why features exist and how many features a language could have that is lacking in many emergent feature theories. I show that CHT and ET both take a middle course between phonetic determinism on one side and substance-free phonology on the other. In both theories, phonological primes are cognitive entities that form a bridge between the mental representations and operations of the phonological component and their external phonetic manifestations. Both theories include markedness as part of the formalism. It is further argued that contrastive hierarchies are not incompatible with ET and have already been implemented in this framework.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Elements and structural head-dependency 9
- Contrastive hierarchies and phonological primes 33
- Privativity and ternary phonological behavior 65
- A guide to Radical CV Phonology, with special reference to tongue root and tongue body harmony 111
- English vowel structure and stress in GP 2.0 157
- Reanalysing ‘epenthetic’ consonants in nasal-consonant sequences: A lexical specification approach 185
- The role of the elements in diphthong formation and hiatus resolution: Evidence from Tokyo and Owari Japanese 207
- Elements of syntax. Repulsion and attraction 251
- General Index 275
- Language Index 279
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Elements and structural head-dependency 9
- Contrastive hierarchies and phonological primes 33
- Privativity and ternary phonological behavior 65
- A guide to Radical CV Phonology, with special reference to tongue root and tongue body harmony 111
- English vowel structure and stress in GP 2.0 157
- Reanalysing ‘epenthetic’ consonants in nasal-consonant sequences: A lexical specification approach 185
- The role of the elements in diphthong formation and hiatus resolution: Evidence from Tokyo and Owari Japanese 207
- Elements of syntax. Repulsion and attraction 251
- General Index 275
- Language Index 279
