Topics in Phonology: Lenition

Consonant shortening, voicing, and deletion are just a few of many phonological processes that are considered to be lenition (softening, weakening) processes. But is lenition a valid category? What functional forces are capable of causing such a wide variety of different processes, and what do they have in common? In this class we will study and criticize the different meanings of the term lenition and discuss several functionally-motivated causes for lenition.