LSA 227: Prosody and language production

Susanne Gahl | session 2 | TuTh 1:30 – 3:15, 370 Dwinelle Hall

Different tokens of the same word or sentence usually sound slightly different, due to variations in speaking rate, voice quality, and a myriad of other linguistic and non-linguistic factors. This variation in pronunciation holds important clues for psycholinguistic investigations about the processes and representations underlying language production.

Course topics include (1) effects of lexical access and utterance planning on speech rate and fluency, (2) the relationship between single-word lexical access and connected speech; (3) changes in pronunciation variation across the life span, and (4) the relevance of all of the above for models of language production.

Goals of the course include engaging with relevant literature, developing ideas for original research, and deepening research skills.

Reading: Selected materials available online.

Prerequisites: A course in phonetics or a background in psycholinguistics.

Areas of linguistics: Language development and psycholinguistics; Phonetics, phonology, and morphology