The Department of Linguistics is pleased to present:

“Articulating linguistic prosody: representation and choreography”

with Cynthia Yoonjeong Lee
University of Michigan

Abstract

During a communicative act, language users adeptly control and coordinate intricate movements of vocal tract organs, including the lips, tongue, and larynx, to craft linguistic messages. The spatiotemporal patterning of these vocal tract actions is systematically governed by how words are grouped into phrases and how important (prominent) words within phrases are highlighted in the language being spoken.

In this talk, Cynthia Yoonjeong Lee will share insights from a series of experimental studies that leverage quantitative approaches to investigate 1) the articulatory co-expression of phrasal and segmental tone, 2) prosodic structure in multiple modalities, and 3) articulatory and prosodic accommodation observed in dyadic interaction.

Findings shed light on the seamless integration of linguistic prosodic structure into multimodal speech production processes, with broader implications for typological generalization and variation, thereby enriching phonetic and linguistic theory.

Join us for this in-person talk on Thursday, February 1st at 11:40 am.

 We look forward to seeing you at the talk!