Course Description

The course will consider the proposal that phonological systems are adaptive emergents shaped by evolutionary processes. We will read papers presenting evidence to this effect from the perspective of typology, language development, speech perception, speech production and sound change. We will also consider proposals on the cognitive nature of phonological knowledge, including phonetic categories and knowledge of statistical distributions.

Course Requirements

1. Reading and participating in the discussion of all articles. Additionally, each student will lead the discussion for one meeting.

2. Writing a paper on topic discussed with the instructor. Papers can be a literature review and research proposal with some pilot work. Students should see me early in the term to pick a paper topic.

3. Each student will present the work from their term paper in the last week of classes.

Readings

Week 1

Lindblom, B. (2000). Developmental origins of adult phonology: The interplay between phonetic emergents and the evolutionary adaptations of sound patterns. Phonetica, 57, 297-314.

Hayes, B. (1999). Phonetically-driven phonology: The role of optimality theory and inductive grounding. In M. Darnell, E. Moravscik, M. Noonan, F. Newmeyer, & K. Wheatly (Eds.), Functionalism and formalism in linguistics, volume I: General papers (pp. 243-285). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Week 2

Hooper, J.B. (1979). Substantive principles in natural generative phonology. In D. Dinnsen (Ed.) Current Approaches to Phonological Theory (pp. 106-125) Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Anderson, S. R. (1981). Why phonology isn't "natural". Linguistic Inquiry, 12, 493-539.

Ohala, J.J. (1990). The phonetics and phonology of aspects of assimilation. In J. Kingston & M. Beckman (Eds.), Papers in Laboratory Phonology I (pp. 258-275). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Week 3

Howell, P. & Rosen, S. (1984). Natural auditory sensitivities as universal determiners of phonemic contrasts. In B. Butterworth, B. Comrie, & Ö. Dahl (Eds.), Explanations for Language Universals (pp. 205-235). New York: Mouton.

Lindblom, B., & Maddieson, I. (1988). Phonetic universals in consonant systems. In L. M. Hyman, & C. N. Li (Eds.), Language, Speech, and Mind (pp. 62-78). New York: Routledge.

Lindblom, B. (1986). Phonetic universals in vowel systems. In J. Ohala, & J. J. Jaeger (Eds.), Experimental Phonology (pp. 13-44). New York: Academic Press.

Abry, C. (2003). [b]-[d]-[g] as universal triangle as acoustically optimal as [i]-[a]-[u]. In Proceedings of the 15^th ICPhS, Barcelona, Spain (pp. 727-730).

Week 4

Hume, E. & Johnson, K. (2001). A model of the interplay of speech perception and phonology. In E. Hume, & K. Johnson (Eds.), The role of speech perception in phonology (pp. 3-26). New York: Academic Press.

Diehl, R. L., Molis, M. R., & Castleman, W. A. (2001). Adaptive design of sound systems: some auditory considerations. In E. Hume, & K. Johnson (Eds.), The role of speech perception in phonology (pp. 123-140). New York: Academic Press.

Steven, K.N. (2003). Acoustic and perceptual evidence for universal phonological features. In Proceedings of the 15^th ICPhS, Barcelona, Spain (pp. 33-38).

MacNeilage, P. F., Davis, B. L., Kinney, A., & Matyear, C. L. (2000). The motor core of speech: a comparison of serial organization patterns in infants and languages. Child Development, 71, 153-163.

Week 5

Kuhl, P. A. (1991). Human adults and human infants show a "perceptual magnet effect" for prototypes of speech categories, monkeys do not. Perception and Psychophysics, 50(2), 93-107.

Kuhl, P. A. (2000). A new view of language acquisition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 97(22), 11850-11857.

Johnson, K. (1997). Speech perception without speaker normalization: An exemplar model. In K. Johnson, & J. W. Mullennix (Eds.), Talker Variability in Speech Processing (pp. 143-165). NY: Academic Press.

Pierrehumbert, J. B. (2001). Exemplar dynamics: Word frequency, lenition and contrast. J. Bybee, & P. Hopper (Eds.), Frequency and emergence of linguistic structure (pp. 137-157). Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Week 6

Pierrehumbert, J. B. (2002). Word-specific phonetics. In C. Gussenhoven, and N. Warner (Eds.), Laboratory Phonology 7 (pp. 102-139). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Kingston, J. (2003). What are phonetic categories? Proceedings of the 15^th ICPhS, Barcelona, Spain (pp. 285-288).

Sole, M.-J. (2003) Is variation encoded in phonology? Proceedings of the 15^th ICPhS, Barcelona, Spain (pp. 289-292).

Demolin, D. (2002). The search for primitives in phonology and explanation of sound patterns: The contribution of fieldwork studies. In C. Gussenhoven, and N. Warner (Eds.), Laboratory Phonology 7 (pp. 102-139). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Week 7

Ohala, J. J. (1993). The phonetics of sound change. In C. Jones (Ed.), Historical linguistics: problems and perspectives (pp. 237-278). London: Longman.

Lindblom, B., Guion, S., Hura, S., Moon, S.-J., & Willerman, R. (1995). Is sound change adaptive? Rivista Di Linguistica, 7(1), 5-37.

*optional* Guion, S.G. (1998). The role of perception in the sound change of velar palatalization. Phonetica, 55, 18-53.

Guion, S.G. (1996). Velar palatalization: coarticulation, perception and sound change (Chapter 5). Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.

Guion, S.G. & Wayland, R.P. (in press). Aerodynamic coarticulation in sound change or how onset trills can condition a falling tone. In Proceedings of the 2003 Texas Linguistic Society: The Dynamics of Coarticulation in Speech Production and Perception, University of Texas at Austin.

Week 8

Bybee, J. (2001). Phonology and language use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Guion, S.G., Clark, JJ., Harada, T. & Wayland, R. (in press). Factors affecting stress placement for English non-words include syllabic structure, lexical class, and stress patterns of phonologically similar words. Language and Speech.

Frisch, S.A., Pierrehumbert, J.B., & Broe, M. B. (in press). Similarity Avoidance and the OCP. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory.

Week 9

Boersma, P. (1997). The Elements of Functional Phonology. ROA-173, Rutgers Optimality Archive, http://roa.rutgers.edu.

Week 10

Student Presentations