ABSTRACT
In order to examine the relationship between contrast and phonetic changes I research 230 such processes and determine whether or not they bring about phonological neutralization. Each process is analyzed using the same source cited by Kirchner (1998). Using original sources is important because, although they describe the same phenomena, grammars of the same language do not always agree on details, especially when it comes to the contrastive properties of sounds. For example, consider the analysis of Bontoc (§3.16) where Lavoie's (1996) original source (Reid 1971) lists p t k and b d 9 as 6 separate phonemes, while another source on the language (Sadenadel 1909) describes the voiced and voiceless variations of each stop (plb tid klg) as members of the same phonemes. Since the inventoried process in Bontoc (b d 9 7 f ts kh I syllable-initially) originates in Reid's work, and in the absence of additional data on the language, his description carries more weight.
