The UCL and SOAS Departments of Linguistics are pleased to announce a workshop with Jonathan Kaye, to be held over four days on 3 May, 6 May, 9 May and 13 May 2016. The event is free of charge and all are welcome; there is no need to confirm attendance.

How to do Phonology

A mini-course with Jonathan Kaye

A joint event by UCL and SOAS Linguistics
Four days between 3–12 May 2016

How to do Phonology

To do phonology you need:

1. A theory that is ridiculously easy to disprove. This is your beacon; it shows you where to look. 

2. A large dose of scepticism. The amount of inaccuracies contained in phonological descriptions is breathtaking. Always, always, always check your facts. Assume that everything you read is false until proven otherwise.

This mini-course will provide a number of case-studies in which a theory with strong empirical content (easily falsifiable) leads to the exposure of widely believed, but entirely false claims. We shall start with the study of the claim by Bromberger & Halle that phonology and syntax are fundamentally different with respect to the formal nature of their structures. Close inspection of the “evidence” they provide to support their conclusion shows that there is every reason to believe that their conclusion, phonology is fundamentally different from syntax, is incorrect.

A dissection of their arguments leads us to issues such as the existence of the mysterious “Dialect B” of Canadian English. In fact, a more comprehensive study of the facts of Dialect A (the dialect that did and does exist) shows that the entire phenomenon has nothing to do with phonology at all.

The destruction of sacred cows continues with claims about the entirely fictional “voicing assimilation” of English, “velar palatalization” of Italian (or indeed other language), umlaut or metaphony, and a host of other allegedly phonological events.

The moral of this mini-seminar is to demonstrate that a theory with little or no empirical content is incapable of separating the wheat from the chaff (i.e. the phonology from the noise).

Suggested Reading

1. A Letter from London The Phonologist's Dilemma: A Game-theoretic Approach to Phonological Debate

2. What ever happened to Dialect B?

3. Canadian Raising, eh?

4. The Ins and Outs of Phonology

5. All that glitters is not gold: The problem of phonological self-deception

All of these are available from Jonathan's account on Academia.edu: https://independent.academia.edu/JonathanKaye

Programme and Venues

Tue 3 May         11:30am–1pm           Session 1           Venue: UCL Chandler House G15

                          1pm–2pm                 Lunch                            2 Wakefield Street

                          2pm–3:30pm            Session 2                       London WC1N 1PF

 

Fri 6 May          11:30am–1pm           Session 3           Venue: UCL Chandler House G15

                          1pm–2pm                 Lunch                            2 Wakefield Street

                          2pm-3:30pm             Session 4                       London WC1N 1PF

 

Mon 9 May       11:30am–1pm           Session 5           Venue: SOAS Main Building, G51  

                          1pm–2pm                 Lunch                            Russell Square

                          2pm–3:30pm            Session 6                       London WC1H 0XG

 

Fri 13 May        11:30am–1pm           Session 7           Venue: SOAS Brunei Gallery, B104

                          1pm–2pm                 Lunch                            Russell Square

                          2pm–3:30pm            Session 8                       London WC1H 0XG

For enquiries please email Monik Charette (mailto:mc@soas.ac.uk) or Florian Breit (mailto:florian.breit.12@ucl.ac.uk).