Talk by Jonas Grünke (Regensburg University) in the Phonology Colloquium

by Anna Pressler Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Jonas Grünke in the Phonology Colloquium. Room: IG 4.301 Date: Wednesday July 16th Time: 16-18 ct Title: When intonation meets intonation: Evidence from Catalan-Spanish bilingualism and other contact settings Abstract:  Language contact often leads to mutual influence, with prosody frequently said to be particularly susceptible to such effects. However, detailed studies on prosodic transfer remain relatively scarce. In this talk, I examine intonational influence between Catalan and Spanish, showing how both languages shape each other prosodically in bilingual speakers. I argue that current patterns of variation can only be understood when taking into account language dominance in these speakers’ repertoires. In addition to this case study, I will discuss further examples of prosodic contact effects in minority and heritage languages (e.g., Judeo-Spanish) as well as in third language acquisition (L3 French), aiming to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of prosody in multilingual settings....
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Talk by Aleksandra Ćwiek (ZAS Berlin)

by Anna Pressler Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Aleksandra Ćwiek in the Phonology Colloquium. Room: IG 4.301 Date: Wednesday May 21st 2025 Time: 16-18 ct Title: Vocal iconicity and... what beats the bouba-kiki effect? Abstract:  Iconicity is a fundamental phenomenon where a form resembles its meaning, bridging perception and communication across modalities. While iconicity has been widely accepted in gesture and sign language research, the iconic potential of vocal communication has often been questioned. This talk delves into vocal iconicity, showcasing that sounds can convey meaning far beyond traditional language boundaries. Drawing on cross-linguistic research on novel vocalizations, I demonstrate the expressive power of vocal iconicity. The second part of the talk explores cross-modal correspondences, where sensory modalities interact to form iconic mappings, such as associating shapes with sounds. I begin by presenting the classic bouba-kiki paradigm, which demonstrates a cross-modal correspondence between vision and sound bridged across cultures by iconicity. I then move on to a recent study revealing that trilled [r] is associated...
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Talk by Brechtje Post (Cambridge University)

by Anna Pressler Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Brechtje Post in the Phonology Colloquium. Room: IG 4.301 Date: May 14th 2025 Time: 4 pm – 6 pm ct Title: Linguistic phonetic biases in first and second language acquisition Abstract:  In acquiring ambient language, infants have to learn: - phonetic skills (negotiate universal phonetic constraints in flux) - language-specific phonological structure - language-specific linguistic-phonetic ‘devices’ to signal this structure - the complex mappings between structure and these ‘devices’ - ‘linguistic-phonetic biases’ which specify the mapping between abstract structures and the phonetic forms, or devices, used to implement them These all shape acquisition pathway individually and cross-linguistically for children and adult learners. However, these ‘devices’ may be used as a multiple signifier in a particular language, e.g. the role of duration in English where it cues e.g. voice (‘pre-fortis clipping’) as well as vowel quality, but also the marking of prosodic heads and edges. How do infants and other language learners juggle these when their languages place competing demands on these ‘devices’? And more broadly,...
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Talk by Justine Mertz (Köln) in the Phonology Colloqium

by Tina Bögel Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Justine Mertz in the Phonology Colloquium. Room: IG 4.301 Date: November 20, 2024 Time: 4 pm – 6 pm ct Title: "Investigating prosodic modulation in French Sign Language (LSF): A kinematic analysis of sign language coarticulation” Abstract: During interaction, speakers often modulate coarticulatory cues to either amplify or reduce perceptual distinctions between competing speech units. Anticipatory coarticulation has been observed in visual-gestural languages as well. However, coarticulatory strategies in sign language remain underexplored. This study offers the first investigation of coarticulation in French Sign Language (LSF) using 3D-Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) for precise kinematic analysis of sign production. A deaf native signer was recorded (EMA/video) producing phonological sign pairs involving '1'- and/or '3'-handshapes. The kinematic data reveal the presence of coarticulation in varied discourse contexts, at both temporal and spatial levels. Using a dynamical framework (Articulatory Phonology), we interpret these kinematic patterns as systematic overlapping processes rooted in the phonological system....
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Talk by Marieke Einfeldt (University of Konstanz)

by Tina Bögel Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Marieke Einfeldt (Konstanz) in the Phonology Colloquium. Room: IG 4.301 Date: November 06, 2024 Time: 4 pm – 6 pm ct Title: "Differences of prenuclear accents and stops in the two varieties of Zurich German speakers: A within speaker comparison” Abstract: While research on the two languages of bilingual speakers has already received a lot of attention (see e.g., Chang, 2021 for an overview), research on the two varieties of bilectal speakers is still scarce (Kupisch et al., 2023). I will present findings from the analyses of two closely related Swiss German varieties (Zurich German and Swiss Standard German) spoken by the same speakers and compare them to a Standard German control group. We focused on segmental (VOT and closure duration) and prosodic (prenuclear accents) properties that have the potential to differ in the dialectal and in the standard realizations: Zurich German stops have been reported to differ based on closure duration, while Standard German stops are differentiated based on VOT (Ladd &...
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