The influence of Peter Ladefoged

Abstract

The research and publications of Peter Ladefoged and his students have been a strong influence in elevating the field of phonetics to a science, and in bringing together phonetics and phonology. I will cite some examples of how Peter’s work and that of his colleagues has influenced the research of many of us at MIT and around the world, where attempts to develop unifying theories often need to undergo continuous revision based on the meticulous articulatory and acoustic data that he reports in his books and other publications. These include his descriptions of the involvement of the tongue root in vowel systems, the fricatives of Mandarin Chinese, the inventory of places of articulation he catalogs in the languages of the world, and the many uses of laryngeal states in providing phonological contrasts. [Supported in part by grants from NIDCD.]