ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relation between the metaphonic process and morphology, and explores the fundamental question whether metaphony has ever been morphologized at all. In the generative phonological tradition nothing would exclude a 'pseudo-phonetic' formulation of metaphony even after absolute neutralization of the phonetic conditioning environment had taken place. The chapter reviews briefly some predictions about the metaphonic data which would be consistent with the notion that imminent erosion of the conditioning environment somehow favours assimilatory processes resulting in paradigmatic alternation. It also considers the possibility, raised by Korhonen in his analysis of Lappish data, that the morphological redundancy introduced by morphologization of the phonetically conditioned stem alternation promotes phonetic erosion of the conditioning environment. The chapter demonstrates that morphological and phonetic conditioning coexist in hypermetaphony. Devoto has claimed that Italian metaphony originated in order to conserve morphological distinctions threatened by the incipient erosion of inflectional endings, a detailed investigation of the metaphonic data is appropriate.
