Perceptual and production underpinnings of phonological processes

Languages of the world have different inventories of sounds and different ways in which these sounds may combine to convey meaning. Linguists have long been interested in describing this variability and in discovering its limits to single out those universal properties that hold of human languages as a whole. Phonologies of all languages are affected by aerodynamic and articulatory constraints in the production of sounds. They are also affected by perceptual constraints due to the way the human auditory system processes sounds. The purpose of this internship is to investigate the effect of phonetic properties of stressed positions on the phonology of stress, cross-linguistically. It will include conducting a typological survey of such processes as well as conducting perceptual experiments and phonetic studies. The actual format of the internship can be adapted as a function the students’ prior knowledge and specific interests.