Björn Köhnlein, professor in the Department of Linguistics, gives a lecture titled "How timing, melody and prominence interact in sound systems."
Timing, melody and prominence not only play important roles in poetry and music, but they also crucially interact in the sound systems of languages. Aside from prototypical tone languages, timing and melody are also important factors contributing to the percept of prominence in languages with word stress. In the study of stress systems (metrical phonology), it is generally assumed that tonal prominence is contrastive only between syllables (as in the intonational difference between the English noun IMpact vs. the verb imPACT). In this talk, I argue that some stress languages have more fine-grained prominence systems where such contrasts can also occur within syllables. I discuss how relevant phenomena can arise over time, how they are integrated into the grammar and the lexicon, and what this means for phonological theory.
Inaugural lectures celebrate Arts and Humanities faculty who have been promoted to the rank of professor. All lectures are held in the Faculty Club Grand Lounge from 4-6 p.m. and are preceded by a reception and followed by Q&A and discussion. All lectures are free and open to the public.
The Arts and Humanities Inaugural Lecture Series is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences.