Word and sentence prosody within and across languages (Blockseminar) - Detailseite

This seminar is aimed at investigating word and sentence prosody by means of phonetic analyses. We will run several acoustic and perceptual experiments comparing contrasts which (i) are encoded in lexicon, (ii) are triggered by pragmatics as well as (iii) their interaction. We will discuss prosodic structures differing both within and across languages. At the theoretical level, students will be familiarized with standard theories in word and sentence prosody, (e.g., Prosodic Phonology) as well as with more recent theories which give more emphasis to the role of prosodic variability in linguistic representation (e.g., Exemplar Theory). The predictions of the theories will be evaluated by means of experimental data.

Cruttenden, Alan (1986). Intonation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (chapters 1 and 2)

Hawkins, Sarah (2003). Roles and representations of systematic fine phonetic detail in speech understanding. Journal of Phonetics 31, 373-405.

Pierrehumbert, Janet (2001). Exemplar dynamics: Word frequency, lenition and contrast. In Bybee, Joan L.  &  Paul Hopper (ed.). Frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure. 137-157. John Benjamins, Amsterdam.