Benjamin Parrell (University of Delaware) will be the "Thursday Thoughts" speaker on January 21st.
Title: The wide world of prosody:
Prosodic structure in sound change and prosodic breakdown in
disordered speech.
Abstract:
I will present two sets of studies that, while covering
quite different subjects, both emphasize the importance of the
prosodic system in human language and speech. In the first
part of the talk, I will present of dynamical-systems based
model of synchronic reduction and show how differences in
prosodic structure can lead to different patterns of reduction
across languages. This model is also able to show how
synchronic reduction patterns can lead to diachronic sound
change when language learners underweight the role of the
prosodic system in shaping the distribution of productions
they hear. In the second part of the talk, I will present a
series of studies on ataxic dysarthria, a motor speech
disorder characterized principally by prosodic disruptions. I
will show that these impairments arise because patients with
this disorder are impaired in feedforward control and
subsequent over-rely on feedback control when speaking.
