Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.06.1970, Page 202

200
within the phonological space,’ for, according to Hjelmslev’s
view of language, we cannot talk about ‘places’ in the structure
(the phonemic system). As soon as we attribute phonetic
values to these units—and such phonetic values are, as I
have already attempted to show, very variable—we cannot
talk about phonemig space, this being self-contradictory;
instead, we must talk about phonetic space. Moulton does
not, it is true, use the term phonemic space. Nevertheless there
is a confusion of the two aspects, for he talks about ‘phonemic
and phonetic symmetry.’ And this, in our opinion, is symmetry
between two noncomparable quantities, for the structural
differences depend on a commutable contrast, and this the
phonetic differences (those enclosed in [] by Moulton) do
not; here it is a purely phonetic impression which determines
the variants (the allophones). Thus, when it is said that there
is symmetry between allophones and the system of long vowels,
the phonemes (the long vowels) have been given definite
phonetic values. Phonological space, then, is a mixture of the
phonetic and the phonemic aspects.
That the structural shifts are the result of changes taking
place in the phonetic sighting point, which in the environ-
ment or dialect in question governs the manifestation of the
structural units, is explained by Moulton in the above-menti-
oned footnote. I believe there is a certain amount of truth in
the idea, even though, as already said, I cannot perceive the
initiating force. If I follow Moulton correctly, he advances
a theory of symmetry according to which the system—here
the vowel system, and, note well, a system of vocoids, phone-
tic vowel units—provides this force. The system becomes a
reality. It aims at symmetry which is able to compete (‘two
competing systems’). The hole in the pattern may lead to
movements in the parallel vocoid series by means of which
asymmetrically placed vocoids move up or down because
they are asymmetric, or the hole is filled so that symmetry is
achieved. As far as I can see it is Moulton’s opinion that
symmetry or harmony is the force which sets phoneme A in