The Basic Tenets of Generative Phonology

Abstract

Among the various schools of phonology, generative phonology is well-known because it has become a standard theory against which most other work in phonology has been measured and evaluated. It is a branch of phonology that came to prominence with Chomsky and Halle's (1968) "Sound Pattern of English" wherein their aim is to eliminate and factor out redundancy from phonological analyses by using phonological rules. Most phonologists agree that they should share the flavor, the spirit, and the mood of generative phonology. As such, the present study aims to limelight this phonological theory through presenting a theoretical framework about this branch of phonology focusing on its emergence, its components, its distinctive tenets, the phonological theories that stemmed from it as well as some post-generative theories and frameworks.

Keywords: generative phonology, Sound Pattern of English, distinctive features, post-generative theories.