The contrastive hierarchy in phonology 2009 Dresher.pdf - CUNY ...

and /e/ might be at the same height phonetically, though functioning
phonemically at different heights, whereas /i, o/ and /e, a/ show the reverse. If
it were not so, we would have to diagram the vowel system as in (3.33).
(3.33) A different four-vowel system
i
e o
a
Thus, the schematization in (3.32) does not ‘hug the phonetic ground’ as
closely as it might; on the contrary, it appears to be specifically chosen to show
how the contrastive structure of a vowel system can differ from its surface
phonetic appearance.
Hockett (1955: 84) admits that in his survey he may have made some
‘arbitrary’ decisions. Thus, he observes that he has assigned three vowel heights
rather than two to systems like /i, y, u, e, a, o/ and /i, ˆ, u, e, a, o/ (3.34),
because ‘the /a/ in any such case is typically lower than the /e o/.’
(3.34) Six-vowel systems: three heights
a. Sixth vowel /y/ b. Sixth vowel /ˆ/
i y u i ˆ u
e o e o
a a
He goes on, ‘Yet such a minor difference in height is not always decisive’ as for
107
example in Fox. Though Hockett would no doubt deny it, it appears clear that his