Unification Phonology: Another look at "synthesis-by-rule"

A Theory of Communication

In this paper, I conjecture that an expanded theory of communication can be constructed and show what it would look like in outline. If the conjecture proves to be valid, then it makes possible a unification of the aspects of semantics, syntax, and phonology that occur in communication. The key idea is based on an analogy between semantics and syntax and semantics and phonology and builds on se...

A model of intonational phonology for use in speech synthesis by rule

A Fresh Look at Putonghua Onset-rime Pairs

0. In this article I would like to present a revised analysis of Putonghua onset-rime pairs. I will present a revised set of Putonghua onsets and rimes. These will be contrasted with some current assumptions about the content of each set. It will be observed that the set of onsets will be increased slightly whilst the number of Putonghua rimes will be significantly reduced. This analysis will b...

The Principle of Phonology-Free Syntax: four apparent counterexamples in French

The Principle of Phonology-Free Syntax (PPFS) is a proposed universal principle of grammar that prohibits reference to phonological information in syntactic rules or constraints. Although many linguists have noted phenomena that appear to them to be in conflict with it, the appearances are misleading in all cases we have examined. This paper scrutinizes four instructive cases in French that app...

Missing Players: Phonology and the Past-tense Debate

The proposition that the mental lexicon is a ‘dual route’ system, advanced by Pinker and others to account for regular and irregular morphology, overlooks the important fact that morphological regularity correlates inversely with phonological regularity --‘regular’ past-tense beeped being phonologically irregular (exceptional syllable), while ‘irregular’ past-tense kept is phonologically just r...