Tomás Navarro Tomás facing the formulation of the phonic disciplines: «intuitions» and phonological observations (1918-1946)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the formulation of the phonic disciplines is displayed in Tomás Navarro Tomás’s works, from his beginnings in experimental phonetics to the crucial distinction between phonetics and phonology. To this end, some remarks of the Manual de pronunciación española (1918) are highlighted, taking into account that, without making a distinction between phonetics and phonology in advance, some of these ideas are compatible with the phonological view which would be consolidated later. Thus, the use of the name «intuitions» is due to the fact that many of these ideas were later interpreted by him in a phonological manner in his Estudios de fonología española (1946). Considering the changes between the first (1918) and the forth (1932) editions of the Manual, attention will be paid to the following areas of interest: the phonetic perception, the comparison between languages, the alternation and hierarchy of phonemes, and, finally, the changes in meaning favoured by some sounds. The study focuses on the segmental level, being the selected works his main ones in the field. By establishing a dialogue between the two works, both the perspicacity of the author’s initial ideas and his will to claim and adapt the content of the Manual to the new theoretical models will be stated.