Abstract

This paper examines the role of orthography in alternations of the type atom~atomic. Previous studies have established that the alternation requires orthographic reference, although how it is used has never been satisfactorily accounted for. Through examination of all possible combinations of the orthography, the phonology and the stress, it is shown that only one set-up will account for the alternations and for the productivity shown in forced derivations of the type petal~*petallic, where *petallic is unlikely to be in the subject’s lexicon. The paper concludes that orthography must take position as the primary system, with stress applied directly to it to produce the desired phonological output. This also goes some way to account for the tendency towards Spelling Pronunciation in literate speakers.