A review of perceptual cues and cue robustness

Much recent work in phonological theory has highlighted the role that perception plays in phonological processes. The perceptual basis of contrasts and features has been explored by Flemming (1995/2002), Gordon (1999), and Kirchner (1997) among others. Other work has highlighted the role that perception can play in motivating constraints. In this approach, phonological processes such as positional neutralisation, gemination, and assimilation are motivated by interactions between the strength of perceptual cues and some notion of articulatory ease (Jun 1995; Kirchner 2000; Silverman 1997; Steriade 1995). While some would argue that permitting perceptually motivated constraints to play a role in phonological grammar introduces a prohibitive level of complexity into analyses, the (re)introduction of functionally motivated constraints permits the unification of previously disparate analyses, and in the work cited above it has reduced the number of ad hoc stipulations and exceptions necessary to capture the pattern.