hide
Free keywords:
magnetoencephalography, Mismatch Negativity, phoneme frequency, phonological features, underspecification, speech perception, brain imaging, electroencephalography
Abstract:
Pursuing the question of whether there are brain bases for phonological markedness necessitates an empirical and testable approach. This approach – put forward in this chapter – is couched in a theory of phonological feature specification and tested with brain imaging methods, with an emphasis on electrophysiology, encompassing electro- and magnetoencephalographic experiments. After sketching the theoretical background and introducing the basics of the reported brain measures, the chapter contains a review of some electrophysiological findings with their re-interpretation from the point of view of phonological markedness. Furthermore, the feature-approach is contrasted with a proposed reduction of phonological markedness to frequency-of-occurrence relations. Altogether, the review provides some important suggestions and starting points for further looking into the neurobiological reality of phonological markedness.
