In the English lexicon, laryngeal alternations in the plural (e.g. "leaf" ~ "leaves") impact monosyllables more than finally stressed polysyllables. This is the opposite of what happens typologically, and would thereby run contrary to the predictions of "initial-syllable faithfulness." Despite the lexical pattern, in a wug test we found…

The oldest form of Sanskrit has a class of expressions that are in some respects like asyndetically coordinated syntactic phrases, in other respects like single compound words. I propose to resolve the conflicting evidence by drawing on prosodic phonology, stratal optimality theory, and the lexicalist approach to morphological blocking. I then…

Phonological constraints can, in principle, be classified according to whether they are natural (founded in principles of universal grammar (UG)) or unnatural (arbitrary, learned inductively from the language data). Recent work has used this distinction as the basis for arguments about the role of UG in learning. Some languages have phonological…

A more highly constrained and more explanatory theory of phonology is produced if abbreviatory and essential variables are restricted. (CK)

This article maintains that linguistic generalizations are likely to be invalid when they are based on data whose synchronic status is not well-defined. An example is made of the universal principles of grammatical rule ordering proposed in a 1974 study by Koutsoudas, Sanders, and Noll. (CLK)

Proposes a theory of stress patterns in English phonology based on the role of rhythm, or alternating weak and strong syllables, in determining stress shifts in words. (AM)

Explores the predictors of early mastery versus error in children's acquisition of American Sign Language. Hypothesizes that the most frequent values for a particular parameter in prelinguistic gesture will be the most frequent in early signs and the most likely sources of substitution when children make errors. (Author/VWL)

Deals with how phonological changes occur and why. Presented as a response to "how" is the idea of lexical diffusion with focus on the temporal and lexical dimensions of sound changes. Evidence has been gathered from various languages to support this theory. Actuation is presented as occurring for physiological and perceptual reasons. (SC)

This articles discusses intonation in terms of different kinds of contours and demonstrates the inadequacy of any approach to English intonation which treats contours as sequences of significant pitch levels. (NCR)

Expanded version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, December 1970, in Washington, D.C. Work supported by a Grace W. Drake Scholarship, a University of California graduate scholarship, and a National Science Foundation grant to the Phonology Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley. (VM)

Research on which portions of this study are based was performed under a National Science Foundation Grant and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. (VM)

Grammatical affix undergoing phonetic erosion is sometimes abruptly replaced by a conveniently-available lexical stem sharing one or more phonological segments. The new affix has phonological shape of the old independent stem, but acquires basic grammatical function of the old affix. Because the old affixal form is eliminated, the historical…