LSA 234: Usage effects in phonology and morphology

Jennifer Hay | session 2 | MW 10:30 – 12:15, 101 Moffitt Hall

This course explores the effect that the patterns of a word's every-day usage can have on that word's representation and structure. It also explores the consequences of such usage for the phonological system. A wide range of data from both speech production and speech perception will be considered. Empirical evidence includes data from experiments, as well as analysis of spontaneous speech.

Topics include:

• The effect of word usage on perceived morphological complexity, and the consequences this has for affix-ordering and morphological productivity.
• The effect of a word's frequency of use and typical context on the likelihood of that word being subject to a variety of phonological processes.
• The link between phonotactic wellformedness and the contents of the lexicon.
• Word- and speaker-specific effects in production and perception.

Reading: Selected materials available online.

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