There Are Twelve

To the Editors:

In glancing through my copy of Jakobson and Hallé’s Fundamentals of Language, which has just been returned to me by a borrower who needed it less than I did, I see that there is an unfortunate error in my article of June 17 [“Art Has Its Reasons”]. Jakobson’s phonological system does not have “ten and only ten” differential features, but twelve from which each language makes its selection. May I recommend Fundamentals of Language to other lay readers like myself for its lucidity, concision, and fascination, and hope that they will make a more accurate use of it than I did?

Charles Rosen

New York City