This chapter first outlines a traditional phonological approach to the description and classification of segments. It introduces the “phoneme,” a notion of structuralism (i.e., the contrastive and distinctive segments of individual languages that form minimal pairs). The approach is a functional one: Phonemes are not only characterized by the sum of their features but also by their concrete allophones. Different kinds of allophonies are introduced with different sounds of German. The second part proposes a system of distinctive features for Standard German. Except for the major class features and the binary feature [±back], consonants and vowels are accounted for by different features. The role of distinctive features in cross-classifying segments as well as in building natural classes is discussed in some detail. Features are represented in a non-linear feature geometry, illustrated in the chapter for individual segments, both simple and complex, and in phonological processes such as assimilation and feature deletion. The chapter also contains a non-exhaustive proposal of how the feature system of German is accounted for in OT.

Generative phonologists share the goal of modeling the internalized grammars that allow members of a linguistic community to produce and understand utterances they have not previously encountered. But while most generativists assume that the internalized grammar maps lexical to surface representations, they may disagree on the nature of that mapping, the makeup of the mental representations of phonological structure, and the role of universal well-formedness constraints in grammar. This chapter surveys analyses of data from multilinguals, foreign language learners, and loanword adapters within different generative models, exploring both strengths and limitations of competing approaches. Issues addressed include the role of phonological vs. phonetic structure, the relationship between the production grammar and the perception grammar, and the role of putative innate learning biases vs. factors such as input frequency and perceptual salience.

Psycholinguistic theories conceptualize the mind as a set of mechanical processes that map between levels of mental representation. Cognition is seen as a form of computation, emerging from the interaction of these processes. We explore how this conceptualization frames psycholinguistic research questions. We first examine how the idea of “mind as computer” leads psycholinguists to examine two broad types of questions. Some studies focus on the structure of mental representations (e.g., are “similar” speech sounds associated with one vs. two representations across languages?). Others focus on the number and nature of processes underlying behavior (e.g., to what extent do speech perception and speech production rely on distinct vs. shared processes?). We then turn to connectionism, a specific computational framework that has dominated psycholinguistic theories of bilingualism. Connectionism’s conceptualization of processing as spreading activation has driven studies of representation and processing. We conclude by considering how psycholinguistic theories can inform as well as be informed by other perspectives

Chapter 8 moves to the third strand of the Indian linguistic tradition (alongside ‘grammar’ and semantics): phonetic and phonological analysis. This strand of the Indian tradition has particular relevance to the modern Western concept of the ‘phoneme’, which has played a central yet controversial role in phonological analysis over the last century. Several criticisms of the phoneme concept have attributed its popularity in modern linguistics to the centrality of alphabetic writing in Western society, and some have pointed to India as a contrasting situation, where writing was never alphabetic. I show that in contrast to what is often assumed, the ancient Indian tradition of phonetic and phonological analysis depended on a concept essentially equivalent to the modern concept of a phoneme, despite not being influenced by an alphabetic (or indeed, originally by any) writing system.

Chapter 6 presents an overview of the organization of the mental grammar. We will focus on general architectural properties of the mental grammar, that is, the units and rules that every grammar must have to capture the sound form, meaning, and syntactic structure of words and sentences. I will suggest that the grammar functions like a checking device in that it tells the language user whether linguistic expressions are well-formed (i.e., grammatical, in accordance with the rules of grammar). There is some technical detail (and many linguistic terms), but at the very least the reader will be left with the conviction that languages are quite complex. It is explained how languages allow people to express any thought they might have, drawing attention to the pivotal notion of recursivity. This chapter sets the stage for being amazed that children have pretty much full control of their language by the age of 4. By learning what a mental grammar might look like, the reader can form an idea of what it is that the child needs to acquire. Without such information, it would be difficult to discuss the role of nature and nurture in language.

This chapter introduces you to English vowels, and variation in vowel inventories across varieties of English. The discussion will first focus on English phonetics – the production of individual speech sounds. We will begin by examining the articulatory features used to classify and describe vowels, namely tongue height, front/backness of tongue articulation (also called advancement), degree of lip rounding/spreading. In this overview, we will also examine vowel inventories across a range of languages to understand which vowels are most common cross-linguistically, and why.

In the next sections of the chapter, we will focus on English vowels by first introducing the types of vowels that exist in different varieties of English. We will then examine the vowel inventories in a range of Englishes, among them OVEs including American, British, Australian, and New Zealand Englishes, and NVEs such as African, Asian, and Caribbean Englishes. We will also discuss the concepts of phoneme, phone, and allophone in this chapter, which sets the stage for exploring the concept of phonology through vowel variation within varieties of English, and phonological rules that govern this variation.

A critical review of models of speech-motor control serves to illustrate the ongoing problem of elaborating an interface between speech and concepts of phonemes or “syllables” as groups of phonemes.The problem extends to neuro- and psycho-linguistic models. In addressing the issue of“the interface that never was,” several lines of evidence are presented that demonstrate syllable-size cycles as basic sequencing units of articulation, muscle activation, and representation in sequence memory. The evidence also suggests that a conceptualization of speech in terms of linguistic-type+/– features that are taken to be timed in letter-like bundles have oriented models, but fundamentally misrepresent both the timing and the graded control of muscles and articulatory motions. Instrumental records of graded control support coherent syllable-size cycles as basic sequencing units and evidence is discussed with a view on how syllable-internal timing can relate to intrinsic properties of relaxing tissues which do not imply a sequential control of closing and opening motions within a motion cycle.