Phonetics, psycholinguistics, and language-specificity

Abstract

How does linguistic knowledge influence speech production, perception, and learning? In this presentation, I will review three sources of empirical evidence for language specificity in some of the most basic processes of speech communication. Each line of evidence will highlight the contributions of the remarkable Jongman-Sereno collaboration—the honorees of this special session—and their continuing influence on generations of students. First, we will consider language specific phonetics as it relates to the acoustic details of speech categories across languages with different sound inventories, including Modern Greek, German, English, and Spanish. Second, we will examine the influence of language background on speech perception through comparisons of pitch perception by speakers of languages with and without lexical tone. Finally, we will focus on speech training in adults when presented with novel speech patterns, asking in particular how general learning principles interact with language-specificity for perceptual adaptation to second-language or foreign-accented speech. In each of these domains—production, perception, and learning—we will see the expanding circles of interaction amongst Jongman, Sereno, and their many students and colleagues. Critically, these Jongman-Sereno contributions underscore the importance of cross-language comparison coupled with a highly collaborative research approach for understanding speech processing and learning.