Phonological processes of Japanese based on the theory of phonology as human behavior

By analyzing speech errors (normal and pathological) and loanwords of Japanese within the theory of Phonology as Human Behavior, we seek to account for why processes such as substitution occur as they do by referring to the “struggle” between speakers’ desire for maximum communication (the communication factor) and minimal effort (the human factor). We conclude that (1) the error patterns or the processes observed in loanword adaptations are not random but motivated and that clinical phonology represents a more extreme version of the “mini-max” struggle where the human factor overrides the communication factor; (2) the communicative forces found within different word positions have a great influence on how and where the phonological processes of loanwords occur.