Alex Chabot edits journal issue on phonological theory

Canadian Journal of Linguistics on "Features and phonetic substance".

Check out the new special issue of the Canadian Journal of Linguistics, edited by our own Alex Chabot, on the topic of "Features and phonetic substance: Implications for phonological theory.” The issue comprises seven articles, including an overview by Alex, "On substance and Substance-Free Phonology: Where we are at and where we are going," and a contribution from Bill Idsardi, "Underspecification in time." Says Alex about his introductory chapter:

• "I will briefly trace the development of features in phonological theory, with particular emphasis on their relationship to phonetic substance. I will show that substance-free phonology is, in some respects, the resurrection of a concept that was fundamental to early structuralist views of features as symbolic markers, whose phonological role eclipses any superficial correlates to articulatory or acoustic objects. In the process, I will highlight some of the principal questions that this epistemological tack raises, and how the articles in this volume contribute to our understanding of those questions."