Phonologie: Eine Einfuhrung (review)

According to the preface, this book has two goals. First, it should provide an introduction to the fundamentals of phonology and phonetics to readers with no previous background in linguistics. Secondly, it should critically review various influential phonological theories from the past 25 years. The volume consists of eleven chapters, each accompanied by several problems for the reader to solve using the ideas discussed in the chapter, along with two indices (one for languages and one for concepts discussed) and the IPA chart.

Ch. 1, ‘Phonetische Grundlagen’ (1–36), provides a useful overview of the phonetic fundamentals of phonology, with an emphasis on their applications in German (mostly the literary standard, although dialect information is occasionally considered). Ch. 2, ‘Phonologische Grundbegriffe’ (37–78), is written in a similar vein; topics discussed here include the phoneme, phonological levels and rules, phonotactics, and the phonemes of German. This last-mentioned section is particularly useful, as H discusses several of the classic problems of German phonemics, including the status of the glottal stop and the velar nasal.

The next three chapters conclude the introductory portion of the book. Ch. 3, ‘Phonologische Systeme und Prozesse’ (79–100) focuses on three topics: phoneme systems, universals and markedness, and phonological processes. These three topics are discussed thoroughly and with copious examples drawn from a rich variety of languages. Ch. 4, ‘Distinktive Merkmale’ (101–38), considers a number of issues relevant to distinctive features, e.g. why distinctive features are needed, underspecification, natural classes, and the distinctive features of standard German. Ch. 5, ‘Regelordnungen’ (139–50), provides a brief overview of rule ordering including the types of rule ordering (feeding, bleeding, etc.) and the elsewhere condition.

The remaining chapters survey various phonological theories. Ch. 6, ‘Autosegmentale Phonologie’ (151–78), reviews the basic principles of autosegmental phonology. Issues discussed in this chapter include the representation of tones in linear theories, the autosegmental representation of tones, and the autosegmental representation of nontonal features. Ch. 7, ‘Merkmalsgeometrie’ (179–204), looks at feature geometry, examining questions such as feature spreading and the various nodes of the feature tree. Ch. 8, ‘Silbenphonologie’ (205–70), discusses a number of syllable-related issues, e.g. the syllable as a phonological unit and the maximal onset principle, before proceeding to a detailed examination of the syllable in German and nonlinear representations of the syllable. Ch. 9, ‘Metrische Phonologie’ (271–90), looks at the fundamentals of metrical phonology, discussing such issues as extrametricality and foot structure. Ch. 10, ‘Lexicalische und prosodische Phonologie’ (291–316), deals with various issues in lexical and prosodic phonology, including the distinction between lexical and postlexical rules, the interaction between various components of the grammar, and the prosodic hierarchy. The final chapter of the book, ‘Optimalitätstheorie’ (317–38), focuses on optimality theory. Here H looks at issues like the distinction between rules and constraints, alignment constraints, and syllable structure within OT.

This is a useful book. While not everyone will be pleased with it (e.g. proponents of optimality theory may feel that OT does not receive the attention it deserves), H has certainly accomplished the goals of the book as outlined in the preface. The book reads easily; the argumentation moves smoothly from issue to issue. It is to be recommended to those interested in phonology and phonetics.