This treatise on the theoretical and historical foundations of distinctive feature theory traces the evolution of the distinctive features concept in the context of related notions current in linguistic theory, discusses the evolution of individual distinctive features, and criticizes certain acoustic and perceptual correlates attributed to these…

Metathesis was examined as a more or less systematic process that tends to preserve segments or features that would otherwise be lost or changed through the effects of other processes, notably reduction, assimilation, epenthesis, et al. It was also shown that metathesis is recessive as opposed to most other competing processes. With one exception,…