Substantiating substance free phonology: Evidence from the neurobiology of phonology

A central goal of the substance-free phonology (SFP) framework is to identify how much abstraction from phonetic detail is present in human phonological representations. One large challenge, however, is identifying clear neurophysiological evidence for such abstract representations, largely because phonological properties often correlate with auditory cues, making it difficult to unambiguously assign explanatory credit. In this article, we update an earlier chapter (Monahan et al., 2013) by (1) providing essential background on current methodologies and experimental paradigms, (2) reviewing empirical findings from the past decade, (3) outlining key remaining challenges, and (4) highlighting promising directions for future research.