No CrossRef data available.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Delving deeper into the phonology of non-occurring possible words of English
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 May 2012
In a recent article in ET 109 Michael Bulley (2012: 35) presents ‘the permutations for monosyllables in common use in standard British English having the phonetic pattern: single consonant + short vowel + single consonant’, using the OED as his source for data. While acknowledging the usefulness of Bulley's tables for pedagogical purposes, I wish to offer a very distinct answer to the question why certain words are missing from the contemporary English lexicon although they could have occurred as possible words.
David Crystal, a member of our editorial board, recently sent in a note pointing out an earlier account by Denyse Rockey (Phonetic Lexicon, London: Heyden, 1973), which is highlighted in chapter 28 of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal (2nd ed. CUP, 1997).