What is a phonological fact?
Phonological structures and processes can be called into question as being specifically phonological in a number of ways. For several years now a current has developed in phonological theory in which increasing emphasis is placed on the role of specifically phonetic factors in determining the typology of sound systems. This has led some to question whether phonological structures and processes have specifically phonological causes at all, or whether they can be ‘reduced’ to the tendencies in the vocal tract, perception and other E-linguistic facts. Some of this work focuses principally on phonetic factors or on the role of historical reanalysis; other work engages in questions concerning the importance of E-linguistic effects, but still with a core interest in developing a model of I-language, along with an interface with phonetics; still other scholars reject phonetically-based approaches entirely, or largely. There are thus at least three positions in this argument: (a) phonetics-fre
