Evolutionary Phonology: The Emergence of Sound Patterns

by Juliette Blevins

• ISBN13: 9780521043649
• ISBN10: 0521043646
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-11-12
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Evolutionary Phonology is a theory of sound patterns which synthesizes results in historical linguistics, phonetics and phonological theory. In this book, Juliette Blevins explores the nature of sounds patterns and sound change in human language over the past 7000-8000 years, the time depth for which the comparative method is reasonably reliable. This book presents an approach to the problem of how genetically unrelated languages, from families as far apart as Native American, Australian Aboriginal, Austronesian and Indo-European, can often show similar sound patterns, and also tackles the converse problem of why there are notable exceptions to most of the patterns that are often regarded as universal tendencies or constraints. It argues that in both cases, a formal model of sound change that integrates phonetic variation and patterns of misperception can account for attested sound systems without reference to markedness or naturalness within the synchronic grammar.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Preliminaries

What is evolutionary phonology

Evolution in language and elsewhere

Explanation in phonology: a brief history of ideas

Sound Patterns

Laryngeal features

Place features

Other common sound patterns

The evolution of geminates

Some uncommon sound patterns

Implications

Synchronic phonology

Diachronic phonology

Beyond phonology

References

Language index

Subject index

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