Document Type
Article
Abstract
This paper explores the ways in which phonology is both structured by the same principles as other aspects of language but is also different, because the interaction between the substance of phonology and the human bodies used to produce and perceive it are much more tightly integrated than is the case with the structures of words, sentences and other aspects of language. Cognitive Grammar holds that the structure of language is abstracted from its use (the theory is ‘usage-based’), and this has resulted in views of the nature of language that differ radically from the dominant generative paradigm. However, the dominant generative paradigm in phonology has had a much more complex relationship both with the nature of the data and with the history of phonology than has the morphosyntax-oriented Minimalist Program, and insights from autosegmental phonology, Optimality Theory and metric phonology have been related to discoveries about human problem-solving and several aspects of musical performance (see, e.g Lerdahl and Jackendoff’s work).
This paper outlines a program for phonology within Cognitive Grammar, drawing on work by a number of current theorists (Nathan (2007, 2008, 2009), Mompéan-Gonzales (2004), Bybee (2007), Nesset (2008)). Issues that will be discussed include 1) the nature of phonological storage (Are there phonemes? Syllables? Larger units? All of the above?), 2) whether stored units are transduced in some way before they are pronounced and ‘undone’ as they are perceived (i.e. are phonological processes psychologically real), 3) what ‘alphabet’ are phonological representations written in? (are representations fully specified, minimally specified, distinctly specified for each instantiation). To what extent does the implementation of phonology, i.e. of speech sounds overlap or even merge with the implementation of musical behavior, sign language or even dancing?
Finally we will explore the boundaries of phonology, examining whether the ultimate physical implementation of phonology (either as articulatory gestures or as the perception of sound 3 waves) creates a demarkation of phonological, as opposed to morphophonological or morphological organizational principles.
Disciplines
Morphology | Phonetics and Phonology
Recommended Citation
Nathan, Geoffrey S., "Phonology" (2026). English Faculty Research Publications. 36.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/englishfrp/36