Phonological explanation in the theory of phonetics: the distributional frequency of half-nasal consonants

Abstract

The past several years have witnessed a significant increase in the role accorded explanation within linguistic theory. There have been numerous attempts to explain linguistic phenomena on all levels of analysis by reference to linguistic and extralinguistic factors. This concern is not novel. The direction it has taken presently, however, can be traced to a dissatisfaction with the very formal and abstract conceptualization of explanation within early generative grammar. In this paper, I would like to consider briefly the present status of explanation in the area of intersection between phonology and phonetics and to suggest that just as we have come to recognize the perils of a phonetics-free theory of phonology, there can be no such phonology-free theory of phonetics.