Abstract

Foley (1977) proposes a number of hierarchies of phonological strength in an attempt to provide a theory of phonology which is more explanatory than others currently in use. These hierarchies are based on data from a wide range of languages, and can be used to explain a number of phonological facts such as lenition, umlaut and assibilation which are not easily explained in standard generative phonology. There are, however, some problems for these hierarchies in the phonology of English.

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