21^st Villetaneuse Conference on Spoken English – 29-30 March 2024

ALOES 2024

Université Sorbonne Paris Nord (Pléiade – UR 7338) and ALOES

Prominence in spoken English

Invited speaker: Rory Turnbull (Newcastle University)

According to Cangemi and Bauman (2020), “few concepts in phonetics and phonology research are as widely used and as vaguely defined as is the notion of prominence”. The authors argue, however, that the integration of phonetics and phonology in the study of linguistic prominence is crucial, since they are used, like other linguistic levels such as syntax (think of extraposition), to make certain elements more salient than others in speech. In the Villetaneuse 2024 conference, we will be looking at how prominent units are distinguished from other units, whether it be from the point of view of production or from that of perception. In phonetics, “variations in length, pitch, stress and inherent sonority are all factors which contribute to the relative prominence of a unit” (Crystal 2008). In acoustic and prosodic analyses, Herment (2001) and Hanote (2015) identify the following correlates: variations in fundamental frequency, intensity, rhythm and duration of phonemes (vowels and consonants), the presence of pauses and the absence of linking at word onsets (with or without an associated glottal stop). In phonology, the features that define prominence may vary depending on the theory used. Prominence may for instance refer to “the relative weight between constituents in a metrical tree” (Crystal, 2008). From syntactic, utterer-centered and pragmatic points of view, the prominence of an element is not random, but depends on the information content of the element in its context and the choice of the speaker to emphasize it (see, for instance, Cappeau & Hanote 2012; Hanote 2015; Herment 2008, 2011; Herment & Rouveyrol 2014; Videau & Hanote 2015). Thus, prominence most likely involves a complex network of links between different linguistic levels: (morpho)phonology, phonetics, prosody, syntax and pragmatics. We welcome submissions dealing with any of these fields (as well as with the interface between them) in relation to spoken English across different corpus types and discourse genres, within a variety of theories.

Here are a few ideas contributors may wish to investigate:

What is the relationship between (morpho)phonology, syntax, information structure, speech cohesion and coherence, and prosody in cases of oral prominence? Is the very structure of oral productions (for example, the long preliminary breaths and pauses) enough to convey the salience of speech?

What are the motivations of speakers when they emphasize certain elements in their utterances (pragmatic dimension) and what is the impact of prominence and emphasis on the listener?

What about the concepts of sonority and markedness when dealing with phonetics (Krämer & Golson 2020)? Is prominence an important issue for phonetics? When do we start dealing with phonological considerations?

Can the prominence of certain phenomena allow for the creation of predictive prosodic or phonological patterns?

What about stylistic prominence? Can different styles be associated with different ways of marking prominence? Such variation may be approached by comparing different speakers or by examining intra-speaker stylistic variation.

How are speakers of different varieties of English perceived in terms of the phonetic and phonological features prominent in their speech?

Which features of an accent (foreign or otherwise) can be considered as the most prominent ones in the sense that they form an acoustic signature that allows listeners to associate them with the accent? What perceptual phenomena are involved? Which are markers and which are stereotypes? How are they encoded in artistic representations of particular accents of English? Is it necessarily at the suprasegmental level that salience occurs (e.g. intonation and emphasis)? What characteristics are perceived by listeners at the lexical and segmental levels? (Cf. the fundamental frequency of fricatives in gay discourse, known as “gay lisp”; e.g. Munson et al. 2006).

How does the teaching and learning of English focus on phonemes, articulations and suprasegmental features as important elements to acquire in order to have a good command of spoken English?

The list above consists in only a few suggestions and is by no means exhaustive.

Each presentation (in French or in English) will last 30 minutes and will be followed by a 10-minute discussion. Poster presentations will also be considered. Please send your anonymous paper proposals (one page of 400 words maximum, accompanied by a page with names and affiliations) before January 8, 2024 to the following address: bongiorno.julia@gmail.com

Contact: Pierre Fournier (pierre.fournier@univ-paris13.fr)

Organizing committee: Arigne Viviane (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Bongiorno Julia (Université Aix-Marseille), Fournier Pierre (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Fuchs Yann (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Furmaniak Grégory (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Glain Olivier (Université Jean Monnet – Saint Etienne), Goudet Laura (Université de Rouen), Hanote Sylvie (Université de Poitiers), Hargas Slimane (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Shoul Karim (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord).

Scientific committee: Arigne Viviane (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Ballier Nicolas (Université de Paris), Bongiorno Julia (Université Aix-Marseille), Brunet Marc-Philippe (Université de Toulouse), Chevalier Florent (Université de Nantes), Fournier Pierre (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Fuchs Yann (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Gaudy-Campbell Isabelle (Université de Lorraine à Metz), Glain Olivier (Université Jean Monnet – Saint Etienne), Goudet Laura (Université de Rouen), Hanote Sylvie (Université de Poitiers), Navarro Sylvain (Université de Paris), Pukli Monika (Université de Strasbourg), Rouaud Julie (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), Videau Nicolas (Université de Poitiers).

References:

Boisseau Maryvonne & Hamm Albert (dir.), Saillance. Volume 2. La saillance en langue et en discours, Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté (2015).

Cangemi Francesco & Baumann Stefan, “Integrating phonetics and phonology in the study of linguistic prominence”, Journal of Phonetics (2020), article 100993.

Cappeau, Paul & Hanote Sylvie (dir.), Focalisation(s). Saillance dans les langues : lexique, syntaxe, prosodie, Presses Universitaires de Rennes (2012).

Cole Jennifer, Mo Yoonsook, Hasegawa-Johnson Mark, “Signal-based and expectation-based factors in the perception of prosodic prominence”, Laboratory Phonology 1.2 (2010).

Crystal David, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Oxford, Blackwell (2008).

Golston, Chris & Krämer Martin, “Diphthongs are micro-feet: Prominence and sonority in the nucleus.”, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting on Phonology 2019, LSA Publications (2020).

Hanote Sylvie, « La saillance à l’oral. Quels marqueurs ? », in Maryvonne Boisseau and Albert Hamm (dir.), Saillance. Volume 2. La saillance en langue et en discours, Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté (2015), 31-56.

Herment-Dujardin Sophie, « L’emphase dans le discours spontané anglais : corrélats acoustiques et prosodiques », Thèse de Doctorat, Laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-en-Provence : Université de Provence (2001).

Herment-Dujardin Sophie, « Prédication et emphase en anglais : le rôle de la prosodie », Faits de langues 31-32 (2008), 243-252.

 Herment Sophie, « Relations entre prosodie et syntaxe : le cas de quelques structures syntaxiques non neutres », Anglophonia / Caliban – French Journal of English Linguistics 30 (2011), 101-117.

Herment Sophie & Rouveyrol Laurent, « Emphase et variation individuelle dans le débat télévisé : paramètres acoustiques et pragmatico-énonciatifs », XIIè colloque international de Villetaneuse sur l’anglais oral, Apr 2014, Villetaneuse, France, 59-70.

Hyman Larry M. “Positional Prominence vs. Word Accent: Is there a difference?”, UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Reports (2015).

Inkova Olga (dir.), Saillance. Volume 1. Aspects linguistiques et communicatifs de la mise en évidence dans un texte, Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté (2012).

Munson et al., “The acoustic and perceptual bases of judgments of women and men’s sexual orientation from read speech”, Journal of Phonetics 34/2 (2006), 202-240.

Smith Jennifer L, “Prominence, Augmentation, and Neutralization in Phonology”, Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 26.1 (2000), 247-257

Steffman Jeremy Andrew, “Vowel-initial glottalization as a prominence cue in speech perception and online processing”, Laboratory Phonology 14.1 (2023).

Rouveyrol Laurent, « Étude pragmatique de la variation linguistique dans le débat politique médiatisé en anglais, Modalités et marques d’implication du locuteur dans le discours, vers une stylistique de l’interaction télévisée », Thèse de Doctorat, Laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-en-Provence : Université de Provence (2003).

Videau Nicolas & Hanote Sylvie, « Pronunciation of Prefixed Words in Speech: The Importance of Semantic and Intersubjective Parameters », Lexis. Journal in English Lexicology, Utterer-centered studies on lexical issues, 9 (2015) ⟨10.4000/lexis.982⟩.

ALOES 2024 pre-conference workshop

Pre-conference Workshop on Internet Spoken Corpora of English

Thursday 28 March 2024

Deadline for Submissions: January 8, 2024.

The vast amount of spoken data available on internet platforms such as YouTube, Dailymotion, etc. constitute an invaluable source of raw material for linguistic research and language teaching. However, this type of data generally requires some processing, such as segmentation, annotation, transcription, alignment, outlier detection, and efficient data management, etc. before they can be properly exploited. 

The pre-conference workshop seeks to bring together the latest research and innovative approaches in the field of Internet spoken corpora of English. We invite papers that address various aspects of data collection, pipelines, outlier identification, and data management in the context of Internet English spoken corpora.

We welcome submissions on a wide range of topics related to Internet corpora of English, including but not limited to:

    Data Collection Methodologies: Papers discussing novel approaches and tools for collecting spoken data from the internet, considering ethical and legal considerations.

    Data Preprocessing Pipelines: Research on data cleaning, normalization, tokenization, and other preprocessing steps tailored to Internet spoken corpora.

    Outlier Detection: Methods and techniques for identifying and handling outliers, anomalies, and noise in Internet spoken data.

    Data Management Strategies: Effective strategies for storing, indexing, and managing large-scale Internet corpora for efficient access and analysis.

    Quality Control and Annotation: Approaches for ensuring data quality, reliability, and automatic annotation of Internet spoken corpora.

    Use Cases and Applications: Research on practical applications of Internet spoken corpora in linguistics, NLP, social sciences, and conception of pedagogical resources.

Submission Guidelines:   

One-page abstracts (in English) should be sent to nicolas.ballier@u-paris.fr and sylvain.navarro@u-paris.fr by January 8, 2024.

This pre-conference workshop will take place at Université Paris Cité, Olympe de Gouges building, room 730 (seventh floor, to be confirmed). Please note that the ALOES 2024 conference takes place at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord in Villetaneuse on Friday 29^th and Saturday 30^th.

    Submission Deadline: January 8, 2024.

    Decision sent January 15, 2024.

    Pre-conference Workshop: March 28,2024.   

  For inquiries please contact nicolas.ballier@u-paris.fr and sylvain.navarro@u-paris.fr

https://clillac-arp.u-paris.fr/aloes-2024-pre-conference-workshop/

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