Frequent or contextually predictable words are often phonetically reduced, i.e. shortened and produced with articulatory undershoot. Explanations for phonetic reduction of predictable forms tend to take one of two approaches: Intelligibility-based accounts hold that talkers maximize intelligibility of words that might otherwise be difficult to…

At the turn of the twentieth century, the sound of presidential address changed from an orotund style to an instructional style. The orotund style had featured the careful pronunciation of consonants, elongated vowels, trilled r's and repeated declamations. The instructional style, on the other hand, mimicked the conversational lectures of the…

The aim of this paper is to present a concise coherent literature review of the Arabic Language script system as one of the oldest living Semitic languages in the world. The article discusses in depth firstly, Arabic script as a phonemic sound-based writing system of twenty eight, right to left cursive script where letterforms shaped by their…

The stereotypical view of English spelling as an awesome mess is no longer widely held by linguists. That view assumes that spelling should represent pronunciation directly and simply. Instead, spelling is currently understood as representing a more abstract level of language as well as reflecting etymology. Examples from a middle school spelling…

Caramazza et al. [Caramazza, A., Chialant, D., Capasso, R., & Miceli, G. (2000). Separable processing of consonants and vowels. "Nature," 403(6768), 428-430.] report two patients who exhibit a double dissociation between consonants and vowels in speech production. The patterning of this double dissociation cannot be explained by appealing to…

Responds to criticisms raised in John Coleman's critique of Charm Theory in "Charm Theory Defines Strange Vowel Sets." (GLR)

A continuation of the controversy concerning Charm Theory reexamines the theory through further critical analysis in the areas of right-branching expressions, elements vs. binary features, combination of charmless segments, charm and syllabic position, and unmarked vowels and vowel systems. (GLR)

Argues that what have been called rising diphthongs in Frisian can be shown to be glide-vowel sequences of which the glide forms part of the syllable onset tather than being part of the nucleus. This argument is supported by an analysis of the phenomena of breaking. (Author/VWL)

Noting that any word in the English language may be defined as having a "base" sound that conveys meaning, this booklet argues that the literacy problem may be solved through systematic instruction in the mechanics of English spelling. The booklet discusses the two distinct types of bases in the English language--common (one syllable)…

Discusses the use of mechanical validation of formal, combinatorial theories in phonetics, and uses a computational tool in analyzing the implementation of the Charm and Government theory of phonology. (GLR)

Discusses a study comparing children's perception of temporal acoustic cues to that of adults. Subjects were asked to identify voiced or voiced CVC words with uniformly voiceless final obstruents but in which vowel duration was systematically varied. Results show that subject age and vowel duration of test stimuli affect identification processes.…

Examines the symbolic connotations of the English phonemes /i/, /o/, and the sound "uh" in stressed position. (AM)

In a response to Philip Carr's discussion of the status of character of the Scottish Vowel-Length Rule (SVLR), this paper presents a proposal concerning the status of stem and base variation conditioned purely by morphological categories. It suggests that SVLR is precyclic only and non-structure changing. (Contains 19 references.) (LB)

Discusses two conflicting hypotheses concerning the nature of the New Zealand English short vowel system. Concludes that both hypotheses are to a certain extent wrong and to a certain extent correct. (Author/VWL)

It is shown that metrical theory as an independent module plays a central role in English vowel-length alternations in spite of formerly accepted rule-based apparatus explanations. An argument is made for a "representational" rather than "derivational" approach to metrical structure, based on well-formedness conditions or…