Sounds of Language and Speech presents:    

What Danish Stød Shares in Common with Polynesian, Iroquoian, West African (ATR), Nilotic, Cushitic, and Tibeto-Burman Languages

Guest lecture by John Esling

Many phonetic labels have been attributed to Danish stød. The Laryngeal Articulator Model encapsulates all of these parameters as expressions of the folding (vs. unfolding) of the laryngeal mechanism and the constriction (vs. expansion) of the epilaryngeal tube. The various reflexes (or potentialities) of the laryngeal constrictor mechanism also represent binary oppositions in the phonologies of many different languages. Examples are [ʔ] vs. [h] in Polynesian or Iroquoian languages, [–ATR] vs. [+ATR] in West African languages, phonation and larynx-height contrasts in Nilotic, “pharyngeal” consonant/vowel oppositions in Semitic/Cushitic, or “raised-larynx”/“pharyngealized” quality in Tibeto-Burman (in some cases interacting with phonation type and tone). All of these oppositions are examples of a factor of constriction contrasting with an unconstricted state of the laryngeal constrictor mechanism.

Friday April 4th, 2025

Time: 14:30-15:30

Venue: Aulaen, building 1412, Aarhus University

Participation is free and open to all. The talk is organized by the Centre of Voice Studies and Sounds of Language and Speech with financial support from Aarhus University research programs for Language and Communication and for Arts, Aesthetics, and Communities

o             zoom-in option available for members of the Centre of Voice Studies and Sounds of Language and Speech

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