Towards a Physical Definition of the Vowel Systems of Languages
| Number | 1338 |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Drawer | 25 |
| Entry Date | 01/28/2008 |
| Authors | Koenig, L.L. |
| Contact | |
| Publication | In Victor H. Yngve and Zdzislaw Wasik (Eds.). (2004) Hard-Science Linguistics, Continuum, pp. 49-66. |
| url | http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL1338.pdf |
| Abstract | My purpose in this chapter is to discuss a set of observations suggesting that what are sometimes superficially described as ‘the same’ vowels may differ when produced by speakers of different languages. The studies reviewed here straddle the traditional boundary between phonetics and phonology in that they investigate how specifics of production (phonetics) vary depending on the speaker’s language, in particular the set of sound contrasts relevant in that language (phonology). Although I find some of the results of this work compelling, I believe that the conceptual framework underlying many of the research questions is misguided. Ultimately, I will argue that cross-linguistic speech research questions can only be formulated in physical terms, based on speakers’ articulatory behavior and its acoustic consequences, and on the associated behavior of listeners. Phonological description that assume sound categories as abstract entities selected by languages and utilized by speakers lend themselves to misunderstanding and inappropriate descriptions of human linguistic behavior. Yngve’s (1996) framework, which begins with a physical description of actions or sounds, and from this proposes speaker and listener properties defined within the context of communicative interaction, offers a promising alternative perspective. |
| Notes |
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