The Dispersion Theory of Contrast

I have developed a theory of phonological contrast that explicates the notion of efficient communication in terms of three basic goals that shape phonological systems: (a) maximize the distinctiveness of contrasts, (b) minimize articulatory effort, (c) maximize the rate of transmission of information (2002, 2004). Perceptually distinct contrasts are important because contrasts can minimally distinguish words, so if they are misperceived, the speaker may be misunderstood by the addressee. Rapid transmission of information is an obvious component of efficiency, as is minimizing expenditure of effort.

My earlier research in this area focused on perceptual representations for the evaluation of distinctiveness (2002) and evidence that constraints need to refer to contrast (2004, 2005). I have also examined constraints against articulatory effort (2003). More recently I have been working on a revised formalization of dispersion theory that accounts for restrictions on the effects of distinctiveness constraints and attempts to limit the size of the comparison set that needs to be considered in evaluating constraints on contrast (2006, 2008).

• 1996. Evidence for constraints on contrast: The dispersion theory of contrast. Hsu, Chai Shune (ed.) UCLA Working Papers in Phonology 1.
• 2002. Auditory Representations in Phonology, Phd Dissertation, UCLA. (1995) [ revised version published by Routledge, 2002]
• 2003. The relationship between coronal place and vowel backness (pre-publication version). Phonology 20, 335-373.
  
• 2004. Contrast and perceptual distinctiveness (pre-publication version). B.Hayes, R.Kirchner, and D.Steriade (eds.) Phonetically-Based Phonology. Cambridge University Press, 232-276.
  
• 2005. Speech perception and phonological contrast (pre-publication version). D. Pisoni and R. Remez (eds.) The Handbook of Speech Perception. Blackwell.
• 2006. The role of distinctiveness constraints in phonology. Draft (2006).
• 2008. The Realized Input. (draft).
• 2017. Dispersion Theory and phonology. M. Aronoff (ed.) The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of L\ inguistics. OUP.
• 2020. Systemic markedeness in sibilant inventories. Poster presented at AMP 2020, UCSC.