Phonemes and features
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Abstract
In a general introduction to linguistics certain topics are both indispensable and pedagogically difficult. I believe that the concepts of the PHONEME and the FEATURE are indispensable to the phonology section of such a course: the two constructs can be argued to be PSYCHOLOGICALLY REAL, indeed, to be fundamental units in the mental organization of phonological abilities; both constructs are ABSTRACT, not simply or directly identifiable with actual physical events; these constructs figure prominently in the statement of the REGULARITIES governing the phonological side of any particular language; moreover, these regularities are LANGUAGE SPECIFIC; but they are phonetically NATURAL, explicable to a large extent in terms of the conflicting needs of clarity and ease. The topics of psychological reality, abstractness, regularity, language differences, and naturalness are all important ones in an introductory linguistics course, and all can be explored in a short treatment of phonemes and features.
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