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Phonetic Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2026

John Kingston*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Randy L. Diehl*
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin
*
John Kingston, Linguistics Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 [kingston@cs.umass.edu]
Randy L. Diehl, Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 [diehl@psyvax.psy.utexas.edu]

Abstract

This paper argues that the phonetic interpretation of phonological representations may be controlled as well as automatic, because contextual variation in the realization of distinctive feature values is a flexible and adaptive response to variation in the demands on the production or perception of these values between contexts. The principal evidence presented in support of this argument is that the variation in the phonetic realization of speech sounds between contexts or languages involves reorganization of articulations into distinct phonetic categories. Extensive evidence of such reorganization in the realization of the feature [voice] is presented.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 70 , Issue 3 , September 1994 , pp. 419 - 454
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 by the Linguistic Society of America

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