Subsegments and the emergence of segments

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v4i1.4541

Keywords:

Q Theory, segments, subsegments, complex segments, Autosegmental Phonology, Aperture Theory, Articulatory Phonology, speech segmentation, natural language processing

Abstract

Q Theory proposes that the most granular and basic temporal unit of abstract phonological representation is not the segment, as widely assumed in classic generative phonology, but the quantized subsegment. With a more granular quantization of the speech stream, Q Theory provides phonological grammar with the representational capability to model behaviors that affect both the parts and the wholes of segments. In Q Theory, segments are emergent from strings of subsegments and from subsegmental interactions based on the principles of similarity, proximity, and co-occurrence that already underlie phonological operations. Evidence is presented from linguistic typology, and mechanics are drawn from speech segmentation and recognition. Q Theory makes it possible to develop an advanced theory of complex segments.

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Published

2019-03-15

How to Cite

Shih, Stephanie S., and Sharon Inkelas. 2019. “Subsegments and the Emergence of Segments”. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 4 (1): 37:1–8. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v4i1.4541.