Computational Phonology - Part I: Foundations

Computational phonology approaches the study of sound patterns in the world’s languages from a computational perspective. This article explains this perspective and its relevance to phonology. A restrictive, universal property of phonological patterns— they are regular—is established, and the hypothesis that they are subregular is presented. This article is intended primarily for phonologists who are curious about computational phonology, but do not have a rigorous background in mathematics or computation. However, it is also informative for readers with a background in computation and the basics of phonology, and who are curious about what computational analysis offers phonological theory. 1 What is Computational Phonology? Computational phonology is formal phonology, and formal phonology is theoretical phonology. Computational phonology is not concerned with the implementation of phonological theories on computers (though that may be a byproduct of computational analysis). The...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: LLC
• Authors: Jeffrey Heinz
• Keywords: Computational Phonology, Formal Phonology, LLC 2011, Phonology