Underlying Representations

ISBN-13: 9780521192774 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication date: 08/16/2012 Series: Key Topics in Phonology Pages: 276 Product dimensions: 5.71(w) x 8.78(h) x 0.67(d) At the heart of generative phonology lies the assumption that the sounds of every language have abstract underlying representations, which undergo various changes in order to generate the 'surface' representations; that is, the sounds we actually pronounce. The existence, status and form of underlying representations have been hotly debated in phonological research since the introduction of the phoneme in the nineteenth century. This book provides a comprehensive overview of theories of the mental representation of the sounds of language. How does the mind store and process phonological representations? Krämer surveys the development of the concept of underlying representation over the last 100 years or so within the field of generative phonology. He considers phonological patterns, psycholinguistic experim