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A Lateral Theory of Phonology , by Tobias Scheer
The aim of the Lateral Theory of Phonology (LTP) is to build a system of principled organization of speech sounds against the backdrop of the CVCV assumption stipulating that the phonological structure is based on a strict consecution of C and V positions. It would appear that the phonological machinery that would have to operate on this abstract backdrop to derive the required concrete effects can be all but simple. Scheer's unquestionable contribution to the theory of representations is that he achieves a complete lateralisation of structure and causality and reduces all the devices responsible for segmental interaction and syllabic effects to just two: government and licensing. Notions such as coda, closed and open syllable, compensatory and tonic lengthening, extrasyllabicity, stress attraction, strong and weak position, vowel – zero alternation, Sonority Sequencing, Onset Maximisation and many others receive new definitions in LTP, as well as new interpretations, which more often than not combine a number of seemingly unrelated aspects.
The Linguistic Review, Walter de Gruyter
Print ISSN: 0167-6318
Volume: 23, 12/2006
Pages: 505 - 542