In the field of
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...
, specifically in
syntax, phonetic form (PF), also known as phonological form or the articulatory-perceptual (A-P) system, is a certain level of
mental representation of a linguistic expression, derived from
surface structure, and related to
Logical Form
In logic, logical form of a statement is a precisely-specified semantic version of that statement in a formal system. Informally, the logical form attempts to formalize a possibly ambiguous statement into a statement with a precise, unambig ...
. Phonetic form is the level of representation wherein expressions, or sentences, are assigned a phonetic representation, which is then pronounced by the speaker. Phonetic form takes
surface structure as its input, and outputs an audible (or visual, in the case of sign languages), pronounced sentence.
This is part of the Y- or T-model of grammar within
minimalist grammar, wherein the syntactic structure is constructed and then transferred (called spell-out) to both the Phonetic Form and the
Logical Form
In logic, logical form of a statement is a precisely-specified semantic version of that statement in a formal system. Informally, the logical form attempts to formalize a possibly ambiguous statement into a statement with a precise, unambig ...
. Operations in this branch of the model (between spell-out and pronunciation), the syntax-phonology interface, affect the pronunciation of the utterance but not its meaning.
Within
distributed morphology (DM), this is where
morphological structure is constructed, where the hierarchical syntactic structure is transformed into a linearized structure, and syntactic features are replaced with vocabulary items, among other things.
According to some theories of
prosody, the prosodic representation is derived with direct reference to the hierarchical syntactic structure. For example, Selkirk (2011, and others) proposes that prosodic structure is constructed by a process of matching, although imperfectly, prosodic constituents to
syntactic constituents
In syntactic analysis, a constituent is a word or a group of words that function as a single unit within a hierarchical structure. The constituent structure of sentences is identified using ''tests for constituents''. These tests apply to a portio ...
. Kahnemuyipour (2009) demonstrates, using evidence from several languages, how
information structure can be represented in the transfer from
syntax to
phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
, arguing that transfer can only be uni-directional, from syntax to phonology. Oltra-Massuet and Arregi (2005) argue that the
metrical structure, as well, makes reference to hierarchical syntactic structure in
Spanish.
[ Oltra-Massuet, Isabel, and Karlos Arregi. 2005. "Stress-by-Structure in Spanish." ''Linguistic Inquiry'' 36.1:43–84.] The extent of the interaction between the syntax and phonology at the interface is a matter of current debate.
Notes
Syntactic transformation