The Phonological Mind [Hardcover]

A study of how humans weave the sound-patterns of language, informed by insights from linguistics, cognitive science, neuroscience and genetics.Humans weave phonological patterns instinctively. We contrast dogs and gods, favour blogs to lbogs; we form patterns at birth and, like songbirds, we do so spontaneously. This book explores the basis of this human capacity through a rich interdisciplinary perspective, ranging from linguistics and neuroscience to cognitive science and genetics.Humans weave phonological patterns instinctively. We contrast dogs and gods, favour blogs to lbogs; we form patterns at birth and, like songbirds, we do so spontaneously. This book explores the basis of this human capacity through a rich interdisciplinary perspective, ranging from linguistics and neuroscience to cognitive science and genetics.Humans instinctively form words by weaving patterns of meaningless speech elements. Moreover, we do so in specific, regular ways. We contrast dogs and gods, favour blogs to lbogs. We begin forming sound-patterns at birth and, like songbirds, we do so spontaneously, even in the absence of an adult model. We even impose these phonological patterns on invented cultural technologies such as reading and writing. But why are humans compelled to generate phonological patterns? And why do different phonological systems  signed and spoken  share aspects of their design? Drawing on findings from a broad range of disciplines including linguistics, experimental psychology, neuroscience and comparative animal studies, Iris Berent explores these questions and proposes a new hypothesis about the architecture of the phonological mind.Part I. Introduction: 1. Genesis; 2. Instinctive phonology; 3. The anatomy of the phonological mind; Part II. Algebraic Phonology: 4. How are phonological categories represented: the role of equivalence classes; 5. How phonological patterns are assembled: the role of algebraic variables in phonology; Part III. Universal Design - PholÓ