The concept of phonological form and the activities of speech production and speech perception

Abstract

This paper deals with the relation of phonology to the phonetic theory of speech performance. In particular, it is concerned with the proper interpretation of the concept of phonological form. The paper is organized in two parts. Part I contains a discussion of the main requirements that can reasonably be placed upon the phonological form as an explanatory construct in phonetic theory. It is proposed that the phonological form of a given linguistic expression be construed as a phonetic plan , i.e. a plan for performing a phonetic-behavioral act that can be perceived and comprehended by language users as the linguistic expression in question. In Part II it is discussed how, more exactly, such a phonetic plan should be understood in relation to the activities of speech production, speech perception and phonetic imagery. Some aspects of an action-theoretical approach to phonetic behavior are also explored and contrasted with the prevailing so-called translation theories of speech production and perception.