Faculty
Dr. Yen-Hwei Lin
My research has focused on phonological representations and constraints in the theoretical context of Non-linear Phonology/Morphology and Optimality Theory, with particular interests in feature theory, moraic and syllabic structures, the phonology morphology interface, and phonetically-based phonology. More generally, I am also interested in sociolinguistics, phonetics, and cognitive science.
Most of my publications are articles and books on (i) Chinese phonology and phonetics, the segmental phonologies of various Chinese dialects, (ii) segmental features, moraic and syllabic structures, loanword phonology, and (iii) Piro (Arawakan) phonology and morphophonology.
My research has focused on phonological representations and constraints in the theoretical context of Non-linear Phonology/Morphology and Optimality Theory, with particular interests in feature theory, moraic and syllabic structures, the phonology morphology interface, and phonetically-based phonology. More generally, I am also interested in sociolinguistics, phonetics, and cognitive science.
Most of my publications are articles and books on (i) Chinese phonology and phonetics, the segmental phonologies of various Chinese dialects, (ii) segmental features, moraic and syllabic structures, loanword phonology, and (iii) Piro (Arawakan) phonology and morphophonology.
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Dr. Karthik Durvasula
The central questions my research seeks to answer are related to the nature of phonological representations, especially phonological features, and the techniques linguists can use to probe them. Phonological research over the last 20 years or so has greatly benefited from its emphasis on experimental work, and in my more recent work, I have adopted this strategy by employing a variety of experimental techniques to get at questions related to speakers’ knowledge of phonological representations and generalizations. |
Students
Bethany Dickerson (undergraduate student)
As an undergrad, my research interests are still developing. I am currently working on my senior thesis, which looks at Canadian Raising in pre-flap contexts. I am also interested in L2 phonology.
As an undergrad, my research interests are still developing. I am currently working on my senior thesis, which looks at Canadian Raising in pre-flap contexts. I am also interested in L2 phonology.
Cara Feldscher (graduate student)
Broadly, my research interests include phonology, phonetics, and semantics. My current project in phonetics/phonology focuses on domain-final lengthening: what are the phonetic details, and what actually triggers it? To this end, I am putting together a production experiment, and collecting corpus data. I have also been investigating excrescent stops recently, with the goal of distinguishing articulatory overlap from phonological epenthesis.
Broadly, my research interests include phonology, phonetics, and semantics. My current project in phonetics/phonology focuses on domain-final lengthening: what are the phonetic details, and what actually triggers it? To this end, I am putting together a production experiment, and collecting corpus data. I have also been investigating excrescent stops recently, with the goal of distinguishing articulatory overlap from phonological epenthesis.
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Ho-Hsin Huang (graduate student)
My research focus is on phonology, phonetics, phonology-phonetics interface, speech perception, speech production and loanword phonology. My current work is mainly on Chinese loanword phonology. I am specifically interested in what loanword input representations are. With the identified loanword patterns and possible explanations, I am running several perception experiments to test whether the explanations are valid. |
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Qian Luo (graduate student)
My research interests include Phonetics, Phonology, Sound Change, Tone, and Chinese Linguistics. I’m currently working on the interaction between consonants and pitch across languages. |
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Monica Nesbitt (graduate student)
Hi! My research focuses on the intersection between speech perception, phonological representations and the influence of social factors on these things using experimental methods. I have been enthralled in probing syllabic representations in American English as of late. My first comprehensive exam examined the syllabic representation of so-called ambisyllabic consonants in American English through the use of a syllable tracking task (they're codas, maybe). Currently, I am investigating the acoustic cues to syllabic representations and I hope these results will shed light on how ambisyllabic consonants are syllabically represented for American English speakers. I am also an active member of the MSU Sociolinguistics Lab. Feel free to meander over to that page to see what other shenanigans I am up to. |
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Scott Nelson (dual BA/MA program)
I am interested in the relationship between phonetics and phonology, and specifically what insights acoustic phonetics can give into phonological theory. Currently, I am working on my undergraduate thesis that deals with the retuning of phonological features and how listeners categorize ambiguous segments. I'm still in the process of developing more specific interests but I have an affinity for language variation as well as trying to explain the gaps between production and perception (from a phono and socio perspective). |
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Mohammed Ruthan (graduate student)
My interest is phonology in general and particularly Arabic phonology. I have worked on the production of English Loanword phonology in Arabic between EFL and ESL. I take an advantage of being Arabic speaker learning linguistic in English, involving both languages in my work. I would like to do more work on Arabic phonology, to learn more about my native language and also to enrich the literature of Arabic phonology. I am also interested in sociolinguistics and language acquisition. |
Kaylin Smith (graduate student)
Kaylin is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics, focusing on neurolinguistics and working toward a graduate specialization in cognitive science. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Monmouth College and M.Sc. in Psychology of Language from the University of Edinburgh. She is interested in psycho- and neurolinguistics, phonetics/phonology, and written language production. She is currently investigating vowel epenthesis in some Scottish English coda clusters and would like to continue studying Scottish dialects of English in the future.
Kaylin is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics, focusing on neurolinguistics and working toward a graduate specialization in cognitive science. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Monmouth College and M.Sc. in Psychology of Language from the University of Edinburgh. She is interested in psycho- and neurolinguistics, phonetics/phonology, and written language production. She is currently investigating vowel epenthesis in some Scottish English coda clusters and would like to continue studying Scottish dialects of English in the future.
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Sayako Uehara (graduate student)
My research interests include phonetics, phonology, and sociophonetics. Most recently, I have been studying the effect of phonological universal and language specific phonotactics on word segmentation. I am also involved in another research, investigating the effect of vocalic outliers on perception. |
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Xiaomei Wang (graduate student)
My primary research areas are phonology, phonetics and sociolinguistics, with particular interest in the phonological and sociolinguistic study on Chinese. I am also interested in language change and variation, and language contact. |
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Chenchen Xu (graduate student)
My research is mainly on phonology and phonetics of Chinese, especially on syllable contraction of Chinese. I have done an analysis on syllable contraction of Jianghuai Chinese and will conduct theoretical and experimental analyses on such phenomenon. I am also interested in indexicality and language attitudes. My current research is a sociolinguistic study on syllable contraction in Chinese, in which perceptual maps and judgment test are used. |
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Mingzhe Zheng (graduate student)
I am interested in loanword phonology and speech perception. Currently, I am working on a series of experiments on the topic of the tonal adaptation of English loanwords into Mandarin Chinese phonology. I am also interested in language attitude, the relationship between language and ethnicity, especially the construction of ethnic identity through language use in Chinese-American community of south-east Michigan. |
Junior member
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Sophia Williams (Linguist in training)
7 months at time of photo. Her interests include discovering the wide range of articulations possible in human language, first language acquisition, and carrots. |
Alumni
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Zachary Kernick (undergraduate student)
I am a MSU undergraduate who is double majoring in linguistics and psychology. I am currently developing my research interests as well as learning more about phonetics & phonology research methodology through participation in the MSU Phonogroup. |
