ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to answer the questions: Why is hypermetaphony restricted to the verb? What does this fact tell us about the general relationship between phonetic processes and morphological structure? It argues that restriction to the verb reflects a probably universal property of morphologically 'diffuse' paradigms, like the Romance verb, which are characterized by extensive allomorphy: that they are more tolerant of phonetic innovation than relatively 'coherent' paradigms, such as the Romance noun and adjective. The chapter shows further evidence for central claim that phonetic processes are differentially sensitive to the relative coherence of morphological paradigms. In other words, hypermetaphony is sensitive to characteristic properties of paradigmatic classes. Verbal tolerance of anti-iconic or disruptive phonetic innovation is in conformity with characteristic properties of the paradigmatic morphology of verbs in general.
