The segment is an elusive entity. On the one hand it appears so intuitively obvious that it might appear strange to some that it warrants the attention of an entire volume, yet on the other hand it is not at all clear what it is, where it comes from, or whether or not the concept is entirely chimerical and thus a hindrance in our attempts to understand human language. This volume takes a de…
Clear and concise, this textbook is an introduction to phonology forstudents which assumes no prior knowledge of this area of linguistics and provides an overall view of the field which can be covered within one year. The book does not confine itself to any specific theoretical approach and can therefore be used for study within any framework and also to prepare students for work in more sp…
The idea for this book and the perception that it was needed arose in the context of the community of researchers who investigate the way language use gives rise to grammar. Indeed, it was these workers in usage-based functionalism, most notably my long-time friend Sandy Thompson, who first supported and encouraged a book that would show how principles that had been successfully applied to the …