| Description |
Phonology has long focused on not only occurrence of patterns, but also the absence of certain patterns. Various proposals have attempted to address this question by suggesting that this is due to biases that affect learnability. In addition to studying the presence and absence of phonological patterns, the complexity of patterns and its effect on learnability have also been examined and explored. Heinz (2010) suggests that the absence of certain phonological patterns is due to learnability limitations which can be represented in terms of computational complexity. Such claims can be tested and examined in a laboratory setting by taking two phonological patterns and comparing their learnability or lack of learnability. Certain patterns, such as Sibilant Harmony, fall in the class of languages that are learnable, while other patterns, such as First-Last Assimilation, fall outside of the class of languages that are considered to be learnable. The aim of the current study is to implement a replication study of Lai (2015) and expand on current findings that have examined the learnability of Sibilant Harmony and First-Last Assimilation. |
