A Course in Phonology (review)

Written in a clear and engaging style, Iggy Roca and Wyn Johnson’s book presents the essentials of nonlinear phonology, including an introduction to Optimality Theory. While examples are taken from English for the most part, some phenomena are exemplified with data from other languages (e.g. Turkish vowel harmony, Japanese pitch accent).

The book is organized into three principal sections. Part 1, ‘Phonetics and phonology’, consists of a general introduction to articulatory phonetics and segmental phonology. Chs. 1–4 deal with the articulatory description of consonants. Using assimilation as a starting point, these chapters present the concepts of rules, derivations, distinctive features, natural classes, and autosegmental representation. In Chs. 5–7, R&J shift their focus to vowels. Beginning with a discussion of the vowel space, the learner is shown how the same types of distinctive features and autosegmental representations used for consonants can be applied to vowels. An examination of English vowels and dialectal variation constitutes the core of Ch. 7. Part 1 concludes with an introduction to the timing tier, including its role in the representation of complex segments and its potential as a mechanism for explaining the Great Vowel Shift.

The discussion of the timing tier provides a good segue to Part 2, which examines suprasegmental phonology. Chs. 9 and 10 investigate syllable theory; the concepts of sonority and constituency are presented and illustrated with examples from English. Cross-linguistic syllable typology is also discussed. Chs. 11 and 12 examine metrical phonology using grid theory. Ch. 13 integrates material encountered in the four preceding chapters through a discussion of syllable weight and its role in stress systems. Ch. 14 concludes Part 2 with an investigation of tonal phonology. Intonation, tonal and pitch accent languages, and the concepts of autosegmental association and floating tones are examined.

Part 3, ‘Advanced theory’, investigates other topics in nonlinear phonology. Ch. 15 focuses on cyclic vs. noncyclic rules, primarily through a discussion of metrical grid construction in English. Ch. 16 investigates the concept of domain and its role in rule application; lexical phonology is introduced. In Ch. 17, R&J further investigate the lexicon through a discussion of lexical representation, markedness, and underspecification theory. Whereas Ch. 18 provides more study of rules and derivation, Ch. 19 introduces the concept of constraints and constraint interaction in Optimality Theory. Ch. 20 concludes with a summary.

This book has many strengths. First, it presents the core of generative phonological theory using readily accessible examples. Second, it is clear and well-organized: The chapters follow logically, and summaries and margin notes highlight important concepts. Finally, much effort is made to guide the novice phonologist through the processes of hypothesis construction and evaluation. The book also has some weaknesses. In general, there is a lack of examples drawn from languages other than English. Second, some of the problem sets could be better constructed. Third, the chapter on Optimality Theory could be better integrated into the book as a whole. Finally, the ‘interactive’ grey boxes, intended to facilitate the reader’s understanding, are excessive in number and interrupt the flow of the text. However, all in all, this is indeed a very sound textbook.