Positional Neutralization: A Phonologization Approach to Typological Patterns

Abstract

This study investigates the typology of patterns of positional neutralization, a term referring to systems in which, from a given set of oppositions, one structural position licenses a wider array of contrasts than another.Patterns of positional neutralization of vowel contrasts are surveyed in three pairs of strong and weak positions: stressed/unstressed, final/non-final, and initial/non-initial.For each pair, regularities involving the phonetic content of neutralization patterns are accounted for using a phonologization-based approach to typological patterns.In the phonologization model, phonetics influences phonology only by providing the gradient inputs out of which categorical patterns are created by phonologization.Perceptually ambiguous language-specific phonetic patterns are reinterpreted by listeners, producing new phonological representations of the relevant strings.Once phonologized, these patterns cease to be dependent on phonetic factors for their existence.

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