Abstract
The nature of phonological representations is a matter of debate, both when it concerns representations as a theoretical matter and when it concerns the mental representations of speech sounds in language production and comprehension. The proposed project will focus on the primitives of phonological representations from a theoretical, empirical and applied angle, aiming to determine a phonologically relevant and psycholinguistically realistic set of primitive units to represent sounds. On a theoretical level, Feature-based and Element-based accounts make different claims regarding the nature and structure of phonological representations. For Dutch, no Element-based analysis has been developed as yet; this is the first objective of the project. On an empirical level, the predictions of Feature- and Element-based theories concerning the strength of phonological contrasts will be investigated with behavioural and electrophysiological measures. Critically testing these predictions is the second objective of the project. Finally, the most appropriate phonological representations will be implemented in the BiPhon model of language production and perception.