A featural analysis of the Modern Roman Alphabet

Bibliographic Data

ID19509205
AuthorsBeatrice Primus (0000-0003-2669-4963, University of Cologne, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume7
Issue2
Pages235-274
Publication date2005-03-22
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWritten Language & Literacy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1387-6732 • E-ISSN: 1570-6001
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/wll.7.2.06pri
OpenAlexW1996177816
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited17

The present article shows that the letters of the Modern Roman Alphabet have an internal structure that is highly systematic in both inner-graphematic and functional-phonological terms. The framework of analysis is Optimality Theory. This approach is congenial for the data at issue as many apparently unmotivated exceptions are optimal choices among competing candidates that are evaluated by violable ranked constraints. The results of the present investigation corroborate a branching correspondence model in which general modality-independent constraints such as dependency, compositionality, markedness and iconism are shown to have independent modality-specific instantiations in speech and writing with bidirectional correspondences serving as functional links across modalities

Alphabet · Linguistics · Markedness · Modalities · Natural language processing · Optimality theory · Phonology · Principle of compositionality · Sociology · Computer Science · Linguistic Studies and Language Acquisition · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Artificial Intelligence

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