25.5065, Review: Phonology: Kula, Botma, Nasukawa (2013)

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Subject: 25.5065, Review: Phonology: Kula, Botma, Nasukawa (2013)

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Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 16:14:17
From: Heather Newell [newell.heather at uqam.ca]
Subject: The Bloomsbury Companion to Phonology

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/24/24-2641.html

EDITOR: Nancy  Kula
EDITOR: Bert  Botma
EDITOR: Kuniya  Nasukawa
TITLE: The Bloomsbury Companion to Phonology
SERIES TITLE: Bloomsbury Companions
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing (formerly The Continuum International Publishing Group)
YEAR: 2013

REVIEWER: Heather S Newell, Université du Québec à Montréal

Review's Editor: Anthony Aristar

SUMMARY

PART 1: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Ch.1 Pearce: Methodology in Field Phonology: This chapter briefly overviews
topics/situations to consider when doing fieldwork in a language community.
This chapter begins with a general introduction to fieldwork issues, including
the advantages and disadvantages of eliciting speaker intuitions about
phonological contrast, issues to consider when choosing recording devices, and
pointers on the pitfalls of relying too heavily on data analysis software. The
chapter then turns to a slightly more in-depth discussion of the specifics of
doing fieldwork on tone, followed by sections on analyzing segment duration,
foot structure, experiments and perception, ensuring that phonological
analyses are sensitive to areal features, and on being aware of
sociolinguistic and contact situations that might affect the phonological
patterns under discussion. 

Ch. 2 Zamuner and Johnson: Methodology in Phonological Acquisition: This
chapter gives an overview of recent research methodologies for testing the
acquisition of both speech perception and production. It takes special care to
point out that, despite their related nature, perception testing generally
targets populations of children below 1 year old, while production, of
necessity, targets older children. The authors argue that this leads to a gap
in our understanding of speech perception. They focus on eliciting parallel
perception and production data in speaking children. The focus then shifts to
a discussion of the merits of one specific methodology, the anticipatory eye
movement paradigm, for eliciting perception knowledge. The authors then turn
to a short overview of speech production tasks, and a focus on elicitation
studies and non-word repetition tasks, both of which are proposed to be
particularly apt for studying children at the age of 20 months. 

PART 2: RESEARCH ISSUES

Ch 3 Botma, Kula and Nasukawa: Features: This chapter begins with an overview
of why features are considered necessary components of phonological analysis.
It then goes on to discuss the problem of overgeneration, its relation to
privativity, and to the number of universal featural primes. The advantages
and disadvantages of binary vs. privative feature systems are touched upon,
before the authors take a privative stance. The main focus of the chapter then
shifts to the theoretical advantages offered by the restriction of primes. The
authors criticize traditional feature geometry for not being restrictive
enough to account for the behaviour of the feature [nasal]
cross-linguistically. They then propose that Element theory offers a more
restrictive paradigm, offering arguments that it allows for a more predictive
theory of cross-linguistic vowel alternations, and a representation of
nasality that links the properties of nasality and voicing. 

Ch. 4 Szigetvári:  Syllables:  This chapter begins with a discussion of the
problematic nature of defining the entity ‘syllable’. The author notes that
linear segmental order accounts better for phonotactic restrictions than the
notion of syllable. He then discusses whether syllables need be derived
elements, arguing that syllabification algorithms can be done away with.
Szigetvári also notes that structural relations within a syllabic theory of
segmental organization cannot account for all positional restrictions on
consonant clusters, sonority sequencing effects, weight distinctions,
phonotactics, or closed syllable shortening . He then supports a radical CV
theory of phonological organization, arguing that the problems with
constituency are done away with, trivially, if all words are underlyingly a
sequence of CV units. Licencing and government relations are proposed to
account for restrictions on consonant and vowel clusters, lenition, and
syllable weight distinctions. He concludes that a linear account of segmental
interactions is more explanatory than a hierarchical (syllabic) account. 

Ch. 5 Apoussidou:   Stress: The author focuses on word stress, and on the
learnability problems raised by Modern Greek. She begins with a brief overview
of fixed and free stress systems, the effects of weight and morphological
makeup on the position of stress, and of feet. She then introduces the
(mostly) lexically governed stress system of Modern Greek and proposes an
analysis where all stress in the language is underlyingly specified. She
proposes an analysis within the framework of Harmonic Grammar (with Stochastic
modifications) that concludes that apparent stress shifting in Modern Greek is
morphologically conditioned allomorphy. Experimental evidence is argued to
support this conclusion.

Ch. 6 Bye :  Derivations:  Bye begins with a concise yet clear overview of the
history of derivational levels from structuralism to current generative
frameworks. He then goes on to define and discuss feeding, bleeding,
counterfeeding and counterbleeding relations. Rule-sandwiching and
Duke-of-York derivations are then exemplified (and are later translated into
Optimality Theoretic terms). Bye discusses how the traditional relations
thought to hold between opacity, transparency and feeding. bleeding,
counterfeeding and counterbleeding are not as simple as originally proposed.
He then discusses rule interactions not as transparently tackled with strict
ordering, namely rules that appear to apply persistently or simultaneously. He
discusses how these can be dealt with in a derivational framework, and the
difficulties posed for their explanation in parallel computational systems. He
then looks at opacity, its problematic status in OT, and examines possible
alternative accounts.

Ch. 7 Uffmann:  Constraint-Based Phonology:  Uffmann begins with a discussion
of the basic differences and motivations for rules and constraints in
phonological theory. He then goes on to discuss the historic rise in
popularity of constraints, beginning with a discussion of morpheme structure
constraints. A short overview of the arguments for Surface Structure
Constraints is then offered, noting the conclusion that accepting SSCs into
the system necessitates a formal discussion of rule-constraint interaction
possibilities. Uffmann then discusses the rise of both constraints and
representational theories in light of the debate on markedness. He then goes
on to give brief overviews of various non-rule-based theories before moving on
to an in depth discussion of the ‘winner’: Optimality Theory. He finishes with
a short defence of OT, noting that criticisms against the theory need to take
into account the broader historical context of the motivation for the rise of
the constraint in phonological theory.

Ch. 8 Hamann:   Phonetic-Phonology Interface:  Hamann begins the discussion
with a definition of the distinction between Phonology and Phonetics, moving
into the issue of mapping at the interface. She underlines the absence of a
simple phonetics-phonology correlation at the featural level, the issue of
gradient application of phonological rules, and the question of phonetic
grounding, then tackles different views on the nature of representations in
Phonetics and Phonology. Exemplar theory is discussed and rejected. She then
expands upon the general properties of a P-P interface theory that assumes
different representations at each level, before going on to a more specific
discussion of Boersma’s OT-based, language-specific Bidirectional Phonology
and Phonetics model. Hamann finishes by highlighting the implications a
theoretical model can have for a model of the P-P interface.

Ch. 9 Revithiadou and Spyropoulos:  Syntax-Phonology Interface  The authors
begin by laying out two issues at the S-P interface; whether the interface is
direct or indirect, and whether derivations are serial or parallel. They
introduce some direct-interface accounts and then go on to briefly introduce
Prosodic Phonology and the notions of indirect reference and non-isomorphism
before moving on to the issue of mapping. They begin with a discussion of
theories in which the syntax is seen as primary. Relation-based models (which
project phonological domains based on syntactic relations) and end-based
models (which project phonological domains in relation to the edges of
syntactic domains) are each explained, and the authors conclude that the
edge-based models, being more restrictive, are theoretically superior. After
this the discussion turns to questions of linearization and cyclic
interpretation. They introduce the copy-theory of movement and some views on
how these multiple copies are interpreted at the interface, offering evidence
from Greek for their own theory.

Ch 10 Marshall: Sign Language Phonology: Marshall begins with a discussion of
the fact that the usual definition of phonology does not encompass sign
languages, and therefore should be adjusted. She then goes on to lay out many
of the ways that spoken and gestural languages are similar or different,
including linear and simultaneous processing, distinctions in iconicity, 
language bias and categorical perception. Marshall then elaborates on the
relevant phonological parameters of SLP; hand-shape, movement, location,
orientation, and ‘non-manual features’. The equivalent of phonotactic
constraints in SL are then enumerated, as well as evidence of markedness, the
effects of language contact, and the assimilation of borrowings into the
native vocabulary. She ends the overview of Sign Language Phonology with a
discussion of the advantages, disadvantages, and difficulties in representing
SLP with the same inventory of theories (prosodic structure, feature geometry)
geared toward oral language. Marshall then describes an experiment wherein
evidence for an active Possible Word Constraint was found in British Sign
Language, analogously to that found for spoken languages.

Ch. 11 Mani:  Phonological Acquisition:  Mani begins this chapter with an
overview of studies that attempt to determine the, potentially pre-natal,
beginning point of infant phonological acquisition. She then goes on to
discuss whether infants discern speech sounds in a way that implies a pre-set
sensitivity to UG and concludes that they do not. Mani then briefly introduces
some theoretical perspectives on L1 phonological acquisition; Neural
Commitment, Perceptual Assimilation, and general cognitive development. The
author then lays out a series of studies that disagree on the level of
phonological encoding in infants’ lexical representations as a lead up to a
more specific discussion of word-recognition tasks that demonstrate a high
level of phonological encoding. The question of whether phonological
acquisition studies give rise to evidence for the psychological reality of
features is then discussed, and it is noted that there is great difficulty in
determining whether children perceive featural or acoustic distinctions. 

Ch.12 Altmann and Kabak:  Second Language Phonology:  The authors begin by
noting the psycholinguistic complexity that the particularly variable nature
of L2 acquisition poses. They therefore choose to focus on the phonological
representation of segmental and suprasegmental information and how this
affects the perception and encoding of L2 information by the speaker. They
note how markedness is a key issue in L2 studies, and that one of the biggest
problems for L2 phonological learning arises when the L1 and target language
have similar but non-identical segments. They question whether the contrastive
status of the target features of an L2 segment in the L1 affects acquisition.
They then move on to a discussion of suprasegmentals in L2 acquisition,
specifically. They note that sonority sequencing plays a role in the
acquisition of L2 phonotactics. Studies examining the relation between the
perception and production of complex or disallowed clusters are then touched
on. The discussion then turns to the, mostly L2 English, studies of stress
production. The relation between L2 perception and production is pointed out
to be unpredictable and in need of further study. 

Ch. 13 Den Ouden: Phonological Disorders: This chapter focuses on the
implications of both data and theory, both in formal linguistic and
psycholinguistic domains, for the understanding of phonological aphasia. The
author begins with the definitions of common literal paraphasias: Wernicke’s,
conduction, and Broca’s, and a discussion of the fact that most aphasics are
not easily categorized. He then discusses markedness, and how it informed
early experimental studies of phonological disorders involving both melodic
and syllable-based errors. Den Ouden then discusses one of his own
experiments, which consisted of naming, repetition, and phoneme detection
tasks and concludes from the data that syllable structure is only available at
a post-lexical processing level. He finishes by noting the importance of
phonological theory for aphasic studies specifically, and psycholinguistic and
neurolinguistic studies generally, noting that difficult to classify data from
aphasic speakers poses a problem for formal theories of phonological
disorders.

Ch. 14 Cho: Laboratory Phonology:  Cho begins with a discussion of the
traditional distinction between phonology and phonetics, and how the gradient
and language-specific nature of purportedly ‘non-linguistic’ phonetic effects
led to a popularization of the field of laboratory phonology. He then goes on
to focus for the rest of the chapter on the phonetics-prosody interface,
concentrating on the phonetic correlates of boundary and prominence marking.
Both right and left prosodic boundaries are explained to be marked by
lengthening or articulatory force respectively. Stressed syllables are
explained to marked in a multitude of ways. This strengthening is shown to be
language-specific, indicating that it is not purely governed by articulation.
Cho then gives a short introduction to each of the Mass-Spring, π-Gesture,
Bonding Strength, Window, and Exemplar-Based gestural models, and discusses
their differing predictions for phono-phonetic effects at boundaries. It is
noted that prosodic cues aid in lexical retrieval, but only if the cues are
linguistically salient to the listener, demonstrating language-specific
sensitivities. Cho ends the chapter by noting pertinent domains for future
research.

Ch. 15 Silverman: Usage-Based Phonology:  Silverman begins the chapter by
laying out the two core principles assumed in any usage-based phonological
endeavour. “Phonological systems consist of ‘discrete’ phonological
categories.” and “Phonological categories emerge from ‘variable’ speech
tokens.” He then goes on to give an overview of the historical underpinnings
of the discipline, broken into the Kazan school and the Post-Kazanians, all of
whom focused on the physical and psychological diachronic pressures in
language change. He also goes into some detail about the notion of boundary
signal, and its segmental or prosodic indicators. He then turns to modern
usage-based phonology and its appeal to exemplar modelling. Semantic and
phonetic misperceptions are then briefly discussed, along with compensation
strategies that are triggered. Focusing on the programs of Labov and Ohala,
Silverman notes that the former attributes (certain types of) language change
to semantic misinterpretation on the part of the listener, while the latter
attributes this change to phonetic confusion.  He then offers evidence
supporting a Labovian analysis, followed by a discussion of further work in
this vein. He concludes the way he began the chapter, with a discussion of
Darwin and his inspirational role in this functional field, where language
change is ascribed to natural pressures.

Ch. 16 Scheer: Issues in the Development of Generative Phonology: Scheer
clearly lays out the aims of this chapter. The history recounted is “...goal
oriented and functional in the sense that it aims at isolating important
issues, key questions, central ideas, circular movements, and real scientific
progress.”  He begins with a discussion of the notion of modularity, both of
the grammar and within the grammar. The function of the phonological
sub-module is laid out as interpretive: it functions as a translation device
between the morpho-syntax and the physical signal. Scheer then moves on to a
brief overview of cyclic derivation. He goes on to discuss the tug of war in
phonological theorizing between computation and representation, noting, among
other things, the important contribution autosegmental phonology made to the
theory of phonological objects, and the computational extreme taken by
Optimality Theory. Problematic elements of SPE’s highly computational model
(overgeneration, and the potential abstractness and diachronic nature of
underlying representations) are then discussed. The Natural (Generative)
Phonology and revisionist frameworks are laid out, and their distinct natures
are enumerated in the light of the reduction of SPE’s overgeneration problems.
The importance of determining how (and how much) phonological rules can
reference morphological structure is highlighted. Scheer then considers the
importance of  autosegmental phonology. Its introduction of the notion of
ill-formedness and of the definition of structural relations are detailed.
Scheer then moves on to the discussion of the unclearly motivated rise of
anti-serialism, and hence an anti-rule stance in generative phonology, which
gave rise to theories such as Government Phonology, and Optimality Theory,
with a focus on the problems raised by the latter. He then brings the
discussion back around to serial computation and the concomitant return to the
importance of representation for phonological theory. 

EVALUATION

This book is a very well presented overview of a large variety of current and
perennial topics in the field. The chapters are written at a level that is
perfect for graduate students, or anyone unfamiliar with a certain subfield
and looking for an overview and pointers on where to look in more depth. Each
chapter attempts to give a general overview of the topic at hand (yet is of
course constrained by space limitations), and then goes into specifics about a
particular problem/research question. The main section of the book tackles
many of the same topics presented in all handbooks of phonology -- stress,
syllable structure, features etc... The added value of this volume is its
sections 1, 3, and 4: the chapters on methodology, new directions in the
field, and the history of phonological thinking since SPE which are not found
in other volumes of this type. 

This volume had a few small shortcomings. First, the methodology chapters are
not given as much space in the volume as the others are. As they are
particular to this volume it would have been nice to have a bit more depth of
information here. Pearce’s chapter on Methodology in Field Phonology focused
on the elicitation of tone, while more space would have allowed for discussion
of other problems for elicitation. In Botma’s chapter on features, the
disadvantages of feature theory are pointed out, but none of the disadvantages
of element theory are discussed. In Szigetvári’s chapter on syllables, some
problems for CV theory and government phonology are not discussed as deeply as
the problems for syllable theory. Uffmann’s chapter on Constraint-Based
Phonology talks about the shift from rules to constraints in OT, but then
virtually ignores the role of structure in OT. This however, as is pointed out
in Scheer’s chapter on Issues in the Development of Generative Phonology, is
an issue for OT in general, and is not specific to Uffmann’s portrayal of the
field. Hamann’s presentation of the Syntax-Phonology Interface is missing any
reference to Selkirk’s (2009) match theory, which rejects the single
edge-based theory presented in this chapter. In addition, Hamann’s statement
that all research agrees that the spell out of a phase is a Phonological
Phrase ignores the interface studies of smaller domains/phases (ex. Embick
2010, Marantz 2001, Marvin 2002). Cho’s chapter on Laboratory Phonology is
slightly more opaque than the other chapters. Finally, Silverman’s chapter on
Usage-Based Phonology focuses mostly on motivations for the theoretical
aspects of the field. More detailed examples would have made it more in line
with the level of the other chapters in the volume.

Overall though, the chapters in this volume are very well written and balanced
between good general overviews of the sub-fields, and specific examples of
what is being done currently within each one. I will point out here a few of
the exceptional sections that I believe make this volume stand out from other
books of this type. First, the note in Pearce’s chapter to be aware that the
morphology and syntax (here specifically in relation to tone elicitation
frames) can perturb phonological patterns, and that interface issues should
always be kept in mind when doing phonological work is much appreciated.
Botma, Kula and Nasukawa’s chapter is especially apt for introducing students
to the complexity of the topic of features, as it considers many schools of
thought (features, elements, components, particles), giving the reader a more
balanced view of the literature than is usual in an introductory chapter.
Szigetvári’s focus on a detailed and reasoned discussion of whether the
syllable is necessary and his examination of the motivations for syllable
structure go deeper than a general overview of the properties of syllables.
Bye’s chapter on Derivations is perhaps the clearest of the volume. It is a
particularly nice exposition of the problems posed by opacity for Optimality
Theory. It allows for a great direct comparison of the theories that will be
much appreciated by the reader, especially the graduate student. It is nicely
followed by Uffmann’s overview of the motivations for constraint-based
theories. Hamann’s chapter on the Phonetics-Phonology Interface focuses on the
implications of the theoretical model for the study of interface issues, along
with the insistence on testability, both of which make this chapter a great
introduction to the field. Revithiadou and Spyropoulos’ conclusion that
explanations for Phonology-Syntax Interface issues will only be found within a
framework that takes into account advances in both phonological and syntactic
theory raises an important point. Mani’s chapter on Phonological Acquisition
offers a concise and clear overview of the linguistics vs. general cognition
question for infant learning. Both Altmann and Kabak’s chapter on Second
Language Phonology, and Cho’s chapter on Laboratory Phonology clearly indicate
directions for future research, which should be quite appreciated by the
student reader. Finally, Scheer gives a well-organized and insightful overview
of the computation-representation and cognitivist-generativist tugs of war
that have been relevant to the discussion of syntactic and phonological
theorizing since the 50s. 

REFERENCES

Embick, David. 2010. “Localism versus globalism in morphology and phonology”.
Vol. 60. MIT Press. 

Marantz, Alec. 2001. Words. Ms., MIT. Cambridge, Ma.

Marvin, Tatjana. 2002. Topics in the stress and syntax of words. Doctoral
dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.

Selkirk, Elisabeth. 2009. On clause and intonational phrase in Japanese: the
syntactic grounding of prosodic constituent structure. Gengo Kenkyu.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Heather Newell is a professor of phonology in the lingustics department at the
University of Québec at Montréal. Her work focuses on the effects of the
syntax-phonology interface at the sub-phrasal (word) level.








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