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A Behavioral Basis for the Polarity Principle in Linguistics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

Harlan L. Lane
Harlan L. Lane*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Abstract

Several linguists have contended that categorical perception is a central or even a defining property of language. The statements of this ‘polarity principle’ for language usually imply descriptions of two kinds of behaviors: detecting that two speech sounds are different, and identifying each of them. This article spells out the implied descriptions, then presents evidence that they are valid. It also shows, however, how categorical perception can be obtained for various non-speech continua, including hue, loudness, and azimuth. Thus, it casts doubt upon a popular theory that attributes categorical perception of speech to articulation. Instead, the article concludes that the description of language provided by the polarity principle is, under certain conditions, equally valid as a description of any behavior, human or infra-human—in other words, that the polarity principle is merely the formulation in the domain of language of some very general laws concerning the behavior of organisms.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 43 , Issue 2-Part1 , June 1967, pp. 494 - 511
Copyright
Copyright © 1967 by Linguistic Society of America

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Footnotes

*

Research was carried out in The Center for Research on Language and Language Behavior, which is supported in part by a contract with the Division of Higher Education Research, U.S. Office of Education.

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