Markedness, Neutralization, and Universal Redundancy Rules

Abstract

This paper examines ideas basic to the Praguean concepts of markedness and neutralization in the light of problems which arise in contemporary phonological theory. The partial reformulation of phonological theory suggested here goes beyond proposals by previous authors in that it provides a plausible explanation for a number of universais concerning stem-initial consonant clusters. The present proposal includes the claim that there is a universal, ordered set of redundancy rules—in the form of neutralization rules—which place constraints on the distribution of marked features in the lexicon. It is suggested that at least some of these universals are due to limitations of the peripheral speech production and perception systems.