A Critical Introduction to Phonology: Functional and Usage-Based Perspectives

by Daniel Silverman, Andreas Musolff (Editor), Gabrina Pounds (Editor)

Overview

Taking an interdisciplinary approach to phonological theory and analysis, A Critical Introduction to Phonology introduces the key aspects of the discipline. Departing from the mainstream tradition, Daniel Silverman argues that the nature of linguistic sound systems can only be understood in the context of how they are used by speakers and listeners.

By proposing that linguistic sound systems are the product of an interaction among sound (acoustics), mind (cognition), and body (physiology), Silverman focuses on the functional consequences of their interaction. Now with each chapter supplemented by a section on “Doing Phonology”, together with phonological examples from a large corpus of data, this expanded second edition offers a provocative introduction to phonological theory. This book is essential reading for all students and researchers of phonology who are already familiar with the standard approaches and provides both a new theoretical background and the mechanical tools for truly successful phonological analyses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474238892
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/21/2017
Series:	Bloomsbury Critical Introductions to Linguistics
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Daniel Silverman is Associate Professor of Phonology at San Jose State University, USA. He has published widely on phonology and is the author of Neutralization (2012) and Phasing and Recoverability (1997).

Table of Contents

Preface
Part I
1. The Functional Typology of Sound Substitution
Setting the scene
The functional typology of sound substitution
Learning the alternants
Summary and conclusion
Doing phonology: Dutch
2. Meaning-Changing Sound Substitution
Introduction
Three examples of meaning-changing sound substitution
Summary and conclusion
Doing phonology: Southern Kongo
Part II
3. Meaning-Merging Sound Substitution
Introduction
Dutch
Korean, Chinese, and Chong
Hungarian
Summary and conclusion
Doing phonology: Russian
4. Meaning-Maintaining Sound Substitution
Introduction
Four cases of meaning-maintaining sound substitution
Physical similarity versus functional identity
'Two-and-a-half' cases of mistaken identity
Summary and conclusion
Doing phonology: Korean
5. Variation and Probability
Introduction
Models of variation
Probability matching
Probability matching promotes category separation and phonetic stability
Trique trans-velar labial harmony
Comaltepec Chinantec tone alternation
High-tone behaviour in Zulu and elsewhere
Summary and conclusion
Doing phonology: Chiquihuitlan Mazatec
6. The Pull of Phonetics; the Push of Semantics
Introduction
Corsican again
American English
Word-initial position
Summary and conclusion
Doing phonology: Lithuanian
Part III
7. Loquor ergo es
Introduction
Ease of perception: Are speakers 'altruistic'?
Ease of production: Are speakers 'selfish'?
'Alphabetism' and 'phonemism': Whence and whither?
The 'synchronic explanation' oxymoron
'Synchronic explanation'
Summary and conclusion
Doing Phonology: Sea Dayak
Appendix: Primer of Phonetic Rudiments
Glossary
Index

Editorial Reviews

Daniel Silverman has written a book that is both thought-provoking and enjoyable to read. By presenting an interdisciplinary approach, it will be of interest to phonologists and scholars in related fields. And by challenging established ideas, it will essential reading for established experts and advanced students.
Bert Botma, Lecturer, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Netherlands

Daniel Silverman's thought-provoking book is essential reading for anyone interested in phonology, from beginning students to established scholars. In it, he manages to discuss all the issues phonologists care deeply about - from children's acquisition of sound-meaning mappings to sound change taking place over generations - while challenging many of the fundamental notions of mainstream phonology. This new edition includes well-known phonological problem sets that demonstrate how to 'do' phonology in the framework he proposes - a framework that is both innovative (as it rejects a number of core assumptions that many introductory textbooks take for granted) and firmly embedded in a tradition of over a century of scholarship, quoted throughout the book. Silverman's approach relies strongly on the relationship between phonetics and phonology, and manages, almost casually, to teach the reader as much about the former as the latter.
Koen Sebregts, Assistant Professor of English Linguistics, Utrecht University, Netherlands

From the Publisher