Romance sounds

Abstract

The study of Romance sounds, and their structure, has for centuries occupied a fundamental position in core phonetic and phonological research. And for good reason. By examining the typological symmetries and asymmetries among the different Romance languages we have learned much about the universal properties of language and the production/perception mechanisms which underscore acquisition and sound change. This provides a rich terrain in which to formulate and test new hypotheses related to sound systems and their development. The commissioned authors in the current volume present recent research in the acoustic, articulatory, phonological, perceptual, and acquisition domains from an array of theoretical foci. The work presented here is sure to have a far-reaching impact in the speech sciences for many years to come.