Daniel Silverman is Associate Professor of Phonology at San Jose State University, USA. He has published widely on phonology and is the author of Neutralization (2012) and Phasing and Recoverability (1997).

• PrefacePart I 1. The Functional Typology of Sound Substitution Setting the sceneThe functional typology of sound substitutionLearning the alternantsSummary and conclusionDoing phonology: Dutch2. Meaning-Changing Sound SubstitutionIntroductionThree examples of meaning-changing sound substitutionSummary and conclusionDoing phonology: Southern KongoPart II 3. Meaning-Merging Sound SubstitutionIntroductionDutchKorean, Chinese, and ChongHungarianSummary and conclusionDoing phonology: Russian4. Meaning-Maintaining Sound SubstitutionIntroductionFour cases of meaning-maintaining sound substitutionPhysical similarity versus functional identity‘Two-and-a-half’ cases of mistaken identitySummary and conclusionDoing phonology: Korean5. Variation and ProbabilityIntroductionModels of variationProbability matchingProbability matching promotes category separation and phonetic stabilityTrique trans-velar labial harmonyComaltepec Chinantec tone alternationHigh-tone behaviour in Zulu and elsewhereSummary and conclusionDoing phonology: Chiquihuitlan Mazatec6. The Pull of Phonetics; the Push of SemanticsIntroductionCorsican againAmerican EnglishWord-initial positionSummary and conclusionDoing phonology: LithuanianPart III7. Loquor ergo esIntroductionEase of perception: Are speakers ‘altruistic’?Ease of production: Are speakers ‘selfish’?‘Alphabetism’ and ‘phonemism’: Whence and whither?The ‘synchronic explanation’ oxymoron‘Synchronic explanation’Summary and conclusionDoing Phonology: Sea DayakAppendix: Primer of Phonetic RudimentsGlossary Index

Teachers of phonology and graduate students will find this book immensely stimulating and thought-provoking.