Contrast Analysis Aids the Learning of Phonological Underlying Forms

One of the many challenges to be faced in explaining language learning is the interdependence of the phonological mapping and the phonological underlying forms for morphemes (Albright and Hayes 2002; Hale and Reiss 1997; Tesar and Smolensky 2000; Tesar et al. 2003). The learner must attempt to infer both simultaneously, based on the surface forms of a language. The present paper presents evidence in support of the idea that observations about surface contrast can inform the learner about the content of underlying forms. More specifically, contrasting outputs for morphemes in a given environment can provide information about underlying forms. We present one way of capitalizing on such information in a learning algorithm, and show how contrast information can combine with phonotactic information to aid learning.