Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

time. This, however, seems not to be the case. Garrett and Blevins (to appear) in fact
demonstrate in several languages the free analogical extension of phonetically
unmotivated alternations such that they come actually to play a greater role in the
grammars of the languages in question rather than a lesser one. Similar patterns are
reported in Anderson (1981) and Bach and Harms (1972). In addition to research into
morphophonological change, investigation of the behavior of natural and unnatural sound
patterns in child language acquisition might also yield important evidence bearing on
these questions. Is it the case, for example, that all of the systematic phonological
patterns displayed by children in the early stages of acquisition are phonetically natural?
Phonology no doubt places its own restrictions on the implementation of sound
patterns, involving perhaps concerns of predictability and symmetry rather than phonetic
naturalness. It is the task of the phonologist to determine what these restrictions are and
how they function to mold the inputs provided to the phonologization process by the
phonetics. It is by concentrating on concerns such as these that we will ultimately locate
the contribution the phonology itself makes to the shapes of the processes it implements.
366