/ㄴ/의 口蓋音化 規則 : Global Rule과 關聯하여

Abstract

The main objectives of the present stucl y are (1) to reformulate the rule of / n/ -Palatalization in Korean and, on the basis of the findings, (2) either to support or disconfirm some of the hypotheses currently proposed in generative phonology, such as the notions of the use of 'imaginary' segments, adjacency principle, automaticity of low IeveI phonet ic rules, global conditions, and rule colIapsing. Korean phonoJogicaJ data which are associatecl with / n/ -Palatalization rules, one of which, though an alIophonic process, requires a global condition on it. This is to say that the 'adjacency' principle in phonology is too restrictive for an explanatory hypothesis and that the mechanical collapsing of similar rules into a single general process is to be carefully reconsid ered in terms that the concept of 'simplicity' or 'linguistically signifìcant generalization' in linguistics should be redefined for the proper advancement of linguistics as empirical science. Additionally, the data also seem to demonstrate that the diacritic use of phonological features should be avoided in phonological description, and that the low level phonetic rules sometimes suffer a few exceptions as opposed to the claim that phonetic rules are exceptionless and automatic.