This paper attempts to prove that King's (1973) hypothesis of a distinction between the phonological and the phonetic level, if it exists, is not as intuitively recognizable as he indicates. Two rules which King maintains are phonetic (one relating to regressive assimilation, the other to velar anteriorization) are shown not to correspond to his…

The paper presents a set of linguistic phenomena illustrative of the notion "universal tendency". Linguistic generalizations are regarded here not as isolated, "true-or-false" propositions but as embedded in a hierarchy of competing forces. An "exception" to a universal is thus seen as the result of the prevalence of another conflicting universal…

Variability is a term used to cover several types of phenomena in language sound patterns and in phonetic realization of those patterns. Variability refers to the fact that every repetition of an utterance is different, in amplitude, rate of delivery, formant frequencies, fundamental frequency or minor phase relationship changes across the sound…

The effect of a mute "e" on preceding consonant pairs was studied in the oscillographic tapings of the pronunciation of three well-educated Frenchmen. The 68 taped phrase pairs, showing the consonant in a primary and secondary (followed by mute "e") position, are listed. The differences betwee n the length of the first consonant, second consonant,…