Dr Alvin Liberman
Haskins Laboratories
New Haven, CT
April 9, 1996
Title: How Special Is Speech?
An unconventional view of speech reveals a distinctly phonetic
module at the level of action and perception. That such a module exists
can be defended on grounds of plausibility and by the weight of
experimental evidence. As for plausibility, the module provides the
parity that must exist between the parties in all communication systems,
and makes possible the combinatorial strategy that underlies the
generativity of language. Among the several kinds of empirical support,
a new study of duplex perception testifies to the independence and
sensitivity of the phonetic module, while also showing the relation to
its auditory counterpart.