Phonological Knowledge: Conceptual and Empirical Issues

Noel Burton-Roberts · Philip Carr · Gerard Docherty

Dec 2000 · OUP Oxford

About this ebook

Phonological Knowledge addresses central questions in the foundations of phonology and locates them within their larger linguistic and philosophical context. Phonology is a discipline grounded in observable facts, but like any discipline it rests on conceptual assumptions. This book investigates the nature, status, and acquisition of phonological knowledge: it enquires into the conceptual and empirical foundations of phonology, and considers the relation of phonology to the theory of language and other capacities of mind. The authors address a wide range of interrelated questions, the most central of which is this: is phonological knowledge different from linguistic knowledge in general? They offer responses to this question from a variety of perspectives, each of which has consequences for how phonology and language are conceived. Each also involves a host of further questions concerning the modularity of mind and of language; whether phonology should be included in the language faculty; the nature-convention debate; the content of phonological elements and its relation to phonetic substance; the implications of sign languages for phonology; whether functional and variationist considerations are relevant in phonology; how phonological knowledge arises; and, not least, the data and methods appropriate for phonological inquiry. Phonological Knowledge is an important contribution to the most fundamental issues in phonology and the understanding of language. It will interest researchers in and advanced students of phonology, linguistic theory, and philosophy of language. In addition to the editors, the authors are Mary Beckman, Silvain Bromberger, Jennifer Fitzpatrick, Paul Foulkes, Mark Hale, Morris Hallé, John Harris, Harry van der Hulst, Robert Ladd, G. Lindsey, Scott Myers, Janet Pierrehumbert, Charles Reiss, Shelley Velleman, Marilyn Vihman, and Linda Wheeldon. By relating foundational questions of phonology to their larger linguistic, cognitive, and philosophical contexts this book will generate interest not only among phonologists and their advanced students, but also among all those concerned to understand the forms and functions of language.

About the author

Noel Burton-Roberts is Professor of English Language and Linguistics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. His interests include semantics, pragmatics, the architecture of the language faculty, the nature/status of phonology, and sign theory. He is the author of 'The Limits to Debate: A revised theory of semantic presupposition' (1989) and 'Analysing Sentences' (1997). Philip Carr is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of English at the University Paul Valery (Montpellier III), France. His interests include phonology and the philosophy of linguistics. He is the author of 'Linguistics Realities' (1990), 'Phonology' (1993), and 'English Phonetics and Phonology' (1999). Gerard Docherty is Senior Lecturer, Department of Speech, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. His interests include phonetics, phonological variation, and disordered speech production. He is the author of 'The Timing of Voicing in British English Obstruents' (1992), and co-editor of 'Urban Voices: Phonological variation and change in the British Isles' (2000).