Representational economy in constraint-based phonology

G.N. Clements (1)

1 LPP - LPP - Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie - UMR 7018

The aim of the present study is to address the question: What minimal assumptions about phonological feature representations must the description of a language make if it is to satisfy widely-accepted criteria of simplicity, generality, and explanatory adequacy? It argues for a general principle of representational economy according to which features are specified in a given language only to the extent that they are needed in order to express generalizations about the phonological system. The features thus present in lexical and phonological representations are those members of the universal feature set that can plausibly be assumed to be discovered by speakers as a result of their linguistic experience, via their role in distinguishing lexical items (distinctivity) or in defining regular phonotactic pattern and alternations.

Mots clés: phonology; economy; feature hierarchy; Tahltan; Basque; Japanese; rendaku

Domaines: Linguistique

G.N. Clements. Representational economy in constraint-based phonology. T. Alan Hall. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp.71-146, 2001. ⟨halshs-00180387⟩