Guest lecture: Universality and linguistic experience in the perception of speech rhythm

By Mikhail Ordin Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language

In this talk I will first introduce my approach to studying speech rhythm as a naturally occur-ring yet culturally-transferred behavioral pattern. I then provide an overview of how speech rhythm develops in L1 and L2 speech acquisition, and how deviations from rhythmic patterns from what is expected by an L1 speaker contribute to perceived foreign accent. Afterwards, I will move to the core of the talk and discuss whether rhythm perception relies on universal physiological mechanisms, or whether (or to what extent) linguistic experience (e.g., native language of the listener) modulates perception of rhythmic patterns. Lastly, I review a couple of experiments that show what pragmatic listeners can infer from rhythmic patterns in vocali-zations of two vocally interacting individuals.

Friday March 28th, 2025

At 13:15 – 15 in room 324 – 1481

Participation is free and open to everyone

This event is organized by the research unit for Sounds of Language and Speech as part of the research program for Language and Communication.