When Sounds Go Wild
Phonological Change and Syntactic Re-Analysis in Havasupai
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11118439 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leanne Hinton (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1980 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 320 |
| Publication date | 1980-06-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0097-8507 • E-ISSN: 1535-0665 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/413759 |
| OpenAlex | W4248790997 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
A cross-generational study of speech in Havasupai, a Yuman language of Arizona, reveals a set of variable phonological rules, affecting person-agreement affixes, that have begun to operate in the last hundred years. These rules might seem obligatory for younger speakers; but closer investigation reveals that these speakers have instead re-analysed the paradigm. This re-analysis illustrates the principle that rules which do not allow surface evidence of the underlying form to be preserved cannot exist: obligatory application of such a rule must eliminate both the rule itself and the underlying form. The speech of the youngest children shows continuing change of the paradigm toward an internally-consistent, transparent system of person-agreement that differs radically from the original system
Linguistics · Phonology · Sound change · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
|---|