Computer backup for field work in phonology

In the study of a previously unrecorded language, a taxonomy of the sound system is the most useful starting point for developing the phonological component of a grammar. If the linguist makes at least tentative assumptions about segmentation and fixes the limits of supposedly relevant contexts, a computer can approximate this taxonomy. A program by Alsop reduces a concordance of phonetic segments in their contexts to a series of taxonomic statements about phoneme distribution by applying Bloch's criteria for contrast within limited contexts. When applied to data on Paipai, a Yuman language of the Colorado delta, collected by Wares on a survey trip, the program found contrast between segments Wares had identified as allophones in two parallel consonantal series, indicating a distinction of presumably low functional load with morphophonemic implications.