Statistically gradient generalizations for contrastive phonological features
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Mirjam Ernestus
Abstract
In mainstream phonology, contrastive properties, like stem-final voicing, are simply listed in the lexicon. This article reviews experimental evidence that such contrastive properties may be predictable to some degree and that the relevant statistically gradient generalizations form an inherent part of the grammar. The evidence comes from the underlying voice specification of stem-final obstruents in Dutch. Contrary to received wisdom, this voice specification is partly predictable from the obstruent's manner and place of articulation and from the phonological properties of the preceding segments. The degree of predictability, which depends on the exact contents of the lexicon, directs speakers' guesses of underlying voice specifications. Moreover, existing words that disobey the generalizations are disadvantaged by being recognized and produced more slowly and less accurately, also under natural conditions. We discuss how these observations can be accounted for in two types of different approaches to grammar, Stochastic Optimality Theory and exemplar-based modeling.
© Walter de Gruyter
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Introduction to the special issue on exemplar-based models in linguistics
- Statistically gradient generalizations for contrastive phonological features
- Phonological variation in spoken word recognition: Episodes and abstractions
- Exemplar models, evolution and language change
- Exemplar-learning and schematization in a usage-based account of syntactic acquisition
- Exemplar-based syntax: How to get productivity from examples
- Spoken syntax: The phonetics of giving a hand in New Zealand English
- From fush to feesh: Exemplar priming in speech perception
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Introduction to the special issue on exemplar-based models in linguistics
- Statistically gradient generalizations for contrastive phonological features
- Phonological variation in spoken word recognition: Episodes and abstractions
- Exemplar models, evolution and language change
- Exemplar-learning and schematization in a usage-based account of syntactic acquisition
- Exemplar-based syntax: How to get productivity from examples
- Spoken syntax: The phonetics of giving a hand in New Zealand English
- From fush to feesh: Exemplar priming in speech perception
