Publications and Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-24-2025
Abstract
This paper revisits Saussure’s scalar analysis of phonemes, offering a modern reinterpretation that replaces binary features with phonological dimensions grounded in measurement theory. By redefining Saussure’s [openness] and [backness] as ordered scales and Chomsky and Halle’s “combination and concatenation” as partially ordered scales, the paper introduces a notion of “[phono]logical simultaneity.” This framework renders the variously-defined phoneme and segment redundant, and shifts the focus of distinctiveness to the linguistic sign, the morpheme. It demonstrates how phonological dimensions link continuous articulations and acoustic signals (e.g., F1 and F2) with discrete linguistic signs through calibrated distinctive features. The analysis identifies Saussure’s two dimensions as the only universal phonological dimensions, with all others being optional, providing a novel basis for cross-linguistic classification. By reframing distinctive features as discrete calibrations of phonological dimensions, the paper reconciles high-level morphophonemic processes (e.g., vowel harmony) with phonetic alternations. Furthermore, it proposes an algorithm for discovering phonological dimensions, applicable both to specific languages and linguistic universals, advancing the theoretical scope of phonology. This work positions phonological dimensions as essential for linguistic analysis, bridging phonetics and phonology while situating distinctive features within interlinguistics, socio-linguistics, and historical linguistics, opening avenues for understanding the universality and specificity of language structure and use.
Comments
This article was originally published in Word, available at https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.2025.2572899
This work is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).