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Germanic Interrelations: Studies in memory of Hans Frede Nielsen
Edited by Stephen Laker, Carla Falluomini, Steffen Krogh, Robert Nedoma and Michael Schulte
[NOWELE Supplement Series 34] 2025
► pp. 206–221

The uses of historical phonology

 | University of Minnesota
Historical phonology was inaugurated by Roman Jakobson about a hundred years ago. Its main thrust was not only to represent sounds of speech as phonemes and variants (allophones) but to prove that sound change is goal-oriented. The “goal” consisted allegedly in striving by the system for regularity and efficiency. The present paper gives examples of how hard it is to determine and evaluate both those parameters. It examines two main concepts of phonology — distinctive feature and system — from the point of view of diachrony. It also attempts to show that the nature of the distinctive feature can sometimes be understood only by examining change, and that system, far from being the principal motor of change, often serves as a conservative force preventing disruption. System emerges as a motor and a brake at the same time. The final section of the paper deals with the Neogrammarian concept of relative chronology and purports to bring out some of its weaknesses.
Article outline
  • 1.The birth of historical phonology
  • 2.Historical phonology and distinctive features
  • 3.Historical phonology, system, and teleology
  • 4.A lesson from the above
  • 5.System, relative chronology, and the Neogrammarians
  • Author queries
  • References
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References (26)
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