Forms, factors and functions of phonetic convergence: Editorial

Abstract

This introductory article for the Special Issue on Forms, Factors and Functions of Phonetic Convergence offers a comprehensive overview of the dominant theoretical paradigms, elicitation methods, and computational approaches pertaining to phonetic convergence, and discusses the role of established factors shaping interspeakers’ acoustic adjustments. The nine papers in this collection offer new insights into the fundamental mechanisms, factors and functions behind accommodation in production and perception, and in the perception of accommodation. By integrating acoustic, articulatory and perceptual evaluations of convergence, and combining traditional experimental phonetic analysis with computational modeling, the nine papers (1) emphasize the roles of cognitive adaptability and phonetic variability as triggers for convergence, (2) reveal fundamental similarities between the mechanisms of convergence perception and speaker identification, and (3) shed light on the evolutionary link between adaptation in human and animal vocalizations.