Variation within phonetics and phonology

Abstract

This thesis investigates variation from phonetic and phonological perspectives in a bid to better understand the relationship between phonetics and phonology. Issues pertaining to variation within phonetics and phonology are highlighted through an empirical focus: Three experiments are presented in Chapter 2 that have implications for the issues at the phonetics-phonology interface. The first two experiments focus on the "slit-t" allophone of /t/ in Hiberno-English. Together these experiments suggest that it is necessary to include both articulatory and acoustic descriptions within phonological specification at the level of the interface. The third experiment focuses on assimilation of three lingual stops of Hiberno-English where they abut across a word boundary. This experiment demonstrates the abundance of phonetic variation that must be provided by specifications at the level of the phonetics-phonology interface.