Sound Change, Abstract Representations, and Simplicity
Wayne P. Lawrence · Linguistic Inquiry · 2006
One criticism often leveled against generative/abstract phonology is that there is no psychological justification for the view that the brain/ mind operates according to principles of ‘‘simplicity’’ and ‘‘economy.’’ For example, Jaeger (1986:74) writes that ‘‘[n]early all studies of speech perception and production indicate that something close to surface forms exists in memory . . . and that words are stored with much redundancy.’’