Acoustic-Perceptual Perspectives on Phonological Patterning in Individuals and Languages

Dear Colleagues,

The role of acoustic salience of phonetic contrasts has long been acknowledged as conditioning the types of contrasts observed in the world’s languages (e.g., Liljencrants and Lindblom, 1972; Ohala, 1996). This appeal to acoustics in explaining patterns in sound systems has also been applied to patterns in developmental speech perception (e.g., Burnham, 1986; Liu and Kager, 2014; Narayan et al., 2010). Pressures driven by the acoustic realization of phones are viewed as affecting the nature of phonologies as well as the directions of change. The goal of this Special Issue is to bring together a variety of research working within the broader exegetical framework of acoustic contributions to phonological patterning both within/across languages and individuals. How might the acoustic peculiarities of phonetic contrasts contribute to their realization in phonologies, their acquisition, or variation and change? We invite research that either supplements or challenges any of these issues from either synchronic or diachronic positions, with data from understudied languages being particularly welcome.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors ([email protected]) or to the Languages editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

References:

Burnham, D. K. (1986). Developmental loss of speech perception: exposure to and experience with a first language1. Applied Psycholinguistics, 7(3), 207–239.

Liljencrants, J., and Lindblom, B. (1972). ‘‘Numerical simulation of vowel quality systems. The role of perceptual contrast,’’ Language 48, 839–862.

Liu, L., & Kager, R. (2014). Perception of tones by infants learning a non-tone language. Cognition, 133(2), 385–394.

Narayan, C. R., Werker, J. F., & Beddor, P. S. (2010). The interaction between acoustic salience and language experience in developmental speech perception: Evidence from nasal place discrimination Developmental science, 13(3), 407–420.

Ohala, J. J. (1996). Speech perception is hearing sounds, not tongues. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 99(3), 1718–1725.

Timeline:

Abstract Submission Deadline: December 30, 2023
Notification of Abstract Acceptance: March 1, 2024
Full Manuscript Deadline: Aug 30, 2024

Dr. Chandan R. Narayan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• acoustic phonetics
• speech perception
• phonological patterns
• sound change
• language development