DescriptionThis paper attempts to ground phonology within psychology. That is, we are interested in phonology as a branch of the study of mental representation, the psychology of mind. In order to develop this `phonology of mind' we need to understand the relationship between formal properties of grammars and the `substance' which representations represent. Current trends in phonology fail to offer a coherent conception of form and substance and are also inconsistent with basic principles of science. In addition to critiquing the phonological literature on markedness and related issues, we offer a modest result in the study of the formal properties of the phonology: we demonstrate that phonology needs to make use of quantification to characterize the structural descriptions of rule and constraints.
NoteThis is an extended version of the Linguistic Inquiry squib "Substance Abuse and Dysfunctionalism: Current Trends in Phonology" (2000). The definitive version of this paper was published in Phonological Knowledge: Conceptual and Empirical Issues (2000) and is available at http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780198241270.do#.Ul7HCGSgknV.
NoteHale, M., & Reiss, C. (2000). Phonology as cognition. In N. Burton-Robert, P. Carr, & G. Docherty (Eds.) Phonological knowledge: Conceptual and empirical issues (pp. 161-184). New York: Oxford University Press.
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
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