We are happy to announce a talk by Constantijn Kaland in the Phonology Colloquium.
Room: IG 4.301
Date: December 3, 2024
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm ct
Title: „Categorizing productions of prosody and intonation“
Abstract:
In recent years, there is an increased interest in the application of
cluster analysis in the analysis of f0 contours. Studies have used this
technique to explore previously under-documented languages and to
confirm and refine intonation theory of well-studied languages. Cluster
analysis is useful, because it is able to group contours based on their
numerical similarity, facilitating the analysis and interpretation of f0
variation. While the output of the clustering does not constitute
intonational phonology, it is informative to our understanding of
phonological categories. The R application ‚Contour Clustering‘
primarily focuses on f0 contours, and recent updates also allow for the
inclusion of other prosodic cues such as intensity and duration
(https://constantijnkaland.github.io/contourclustering/). In this way,
the methodological approach offers an effective way of scrutinizing
prosodic variation of all kinds. It poses no limits to the type of data
(spontaneous to scripted) nor to the language under investigation. The
talk will outline the rationale behind this approach and demonstrates an
example workflow.