The structure and content of phonological primitives

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of our current understanding of the nature of the phonological primitives, the smallest units at the core of phonological representation and computation. We argue that there are many more open questions about the primitives than there is agreement. We discuss many of the fundamental questions faced by phonological theory on various aspects of phonological features, ranging from their formal structural properties (e.g. types of opposition, valency, atomicity), to their relationship with phonetic correlates (e.g. representationalism, articulatory vs acoustic correlates, substance), to their origins (e.g. innateness, emergence), taking into account a large range of positions on each of the issues discussed. We show that despite significant fragmentation on many of these issues, there is also much common ground which should leave us optimistic about progress on the many questions that remain open.