On System-Structure Phonology

In 1934, when Yuen-Ren Chao discussed the nonuniqueness of phonemic solutions, he demonstrated that different phonological analyses presuppose different underlying concepts. The thirty years since the publication of that paper have not produced any one phonological theory to which even most linguists will subscribe. The situation is not unusual in the history of science. Scientific theories are constantly submitted to change and revision; in an empirical science, the structure is never completed. Experiments become more precise, new phenomena are revealed, new concepts are developed. At all times we must be prepared to abandon our theory, remodel the foundations, and erect a new structure. But the history of science shows also that theories which turn out to be inaccurate can yet lead to the discovery of new facts; and each new theory retains some elements of the one it has supplanted. Acceptance of one theory does not require one to reject a rival theory in toto

Linguistics · Phonology · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research

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