Introduction

An interesting issue in current research in linguistics regards the nature of representations. Traditional approaches assume categorical representations which may be altered through the application of rules. Optimality Theory suggests that constraint ranking selects the most appropriate representation. In these later two views linguistic representations are understood as being categorical where redundant or predictable information is not present. However, a number of recent works has shown that linguistic representations incorporate redundant information which plays an important role in language processing Works on experimental phonetics and along the lines of Laboratory Phonology indicate the gradual nature of phonetic representations. Words are understood as unit of representations (Wang (1969), Goldlinger (1997), Bybee (2001)). Evidence has been offered for the gradual implementation of sound changes in the lexicon through patterns of lexical diffusion. A question which arises from these observations regards the nature of representations: are they categorical or gradient? This paper intends to contribute to the answer to this question. More specifically we intend to evaluate whether the loss of a morphological category (plural) leaves traces in the continuum of speech. In order to investigate this issue we are going to evaluate plural loss in BP.

This paper was developed at: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

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