Interpreting state, with focus on metaphonic processes

Metaphony provides a unique window into the nature of the capacities of phonological grammars. The representational issues metaphonic processes highlight are exactly those core to computational analysis. Prominent examples of such processes, under various systems of phonological and morphological representation, are examined using algebraic methods, which describe the structure that arises when certain sequences exhibit the same behaviours. This analysis clarifies how representational choices interact with computational complexity. In particular, the simplest characterisations are obtained when the patterns are analysed at the syllabic level, as opposed to the segmental level, and when distinct morphemes are not demarcated by morpheme boundaries but by morphologically marked phonological material. Furthermore, these analyses speak directly to issues in learning, acquisition, production and perception.