Concreteness in Generative Phonology: Evidence from French

Concreteness in Generative Phonology presents major topics in French phonology and morphology within the theoretical framework of generative grammar. The concrete analyses advocated in Bernard Tranel’s study constitute a radical departure from the abstract solutions proposed in previous generative treatments. Abundant internal and external evidence anchors the concrete approach, which is based on the recognition of the lexical nature of nasal vowels, the absence of protective schwas, and the necessity of a rule-feature analysis for h-aspire words.

French phonology has been a well-known subject of controversy, both because French is an influential Indo-European language and because the complexity of the data has made it difficult to decide certain issues. This integrated account brings to bear data generally omitted from consideration, demonstrates the critical role that substantive evidence plays as a tool of investigation, and provides a data-based comparison between two approaches within the same broad generative framework. Taking advantage of certain theoretical developments, Tranel presents each problem set of data alongside previous and logical possible analyses and clearly lays out the arguments for and against each analysis.

This title is part of UC Press’s Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1981.