Universität Wien
Warning! The directory is not yet complete and will be amended until the beginning of the term.

128141 FS FS Research Seminar I / II (2025S)

Morphonotactics

10.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
We 19.03. 18:15-19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 26.03. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 02.04. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 09.04. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 30.04. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 07.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 14.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 21.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 28.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 04.06. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 11.06. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 18.06. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Wednesday 25.06. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

In this course, we investigate if and how the sound shapes of English words help speakers (a) to recognize them as words, and (b) to identify their morphological structure if they are complex. That this should be the case is supported by much recent research. Thus, speakers seem to know (if only subconsciously) where and how often sounds (co-)occur in a language, and they seem to use these distribution frequencies when they recognize words in the speech stream, when they learn them, and when they process them. Similarly, speakers seem to be able to infer the morphological structure of a word from the way it sounds. This is because some sound shapes are much more likely to represent morphologically simple forms and other are much more likely to represent complex ones. For instance, words ending in /-gz/ are always the result of suffixation in English (egg+s, leg+s, dig+s), while words ending in /-mp/ are always simple (lamp, jump). Such patterns make word processing easier: complex forms whose sound patterns are reliable signals of complexity are processed both more quickly and accurately.

In other cases, sound sequences can just as easily occur with both simple and complex forms (e.g., /-nd/ in hand and sinn+ed, /ld/ in gold and yell+ed); such patterns are ambiguous. While predictable sound sequences have been shown to make word processing easier, ambiguous ones can hinder it. It follows that ambiguous sound patterns should be difficult to learn and, therefore, also be transmitted less well between generations, historically less stable, and therefore relatively rare.

In this course, we will explore question like the following: (a) Are there typical sound sequences (‘phonotactic patterns’) by which one can recognize English words as words? (b) Do phonotactic patterns near or across morpheme and word boundaries in (past or present) differ from the sequences found within words? (c) Does English reflect a preference for sound sequences to be noticeable and predictable boundary signals?

After an introductory module, in which the principles of phonotactic and morphonotactics are explained, you will carry out a synchronic or diachronic research project in groups, where you will investigate if a phonotactic pattern of your choice supports these ideas or not. This will involve formulating concrete expectations; extracting data from corpora and analysing them; as well as interpreting your findings and drawing conclusions.

Assessment and permitted materials

This course involves a mixture of individual assignments and group work.

Course evaluation is based on:

20% Active classroom participation (individual assessment)
10% Short test after the introductory module (individual assessment)
10% Proposal including envisaged methods and expectations (group assignment)
20% Oral presentation of findings (group assignment)
40% Research project and interpretation of findings in form of a term paper (group assessment)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

‒ Regular class attendance (max. 2 absences)
‒ Passing the introductory module test
‒ Engaging actively in the course
‒ Handing in all assignments (proposal, paper) on time
‒ Holding a presentation on your project and findings
‒ Obtaining a minimum of 60% (on average)

Any form of plagiarism (e.g., copying from other students or insufficient indication of sources) and cheating is prohibited. Please note that the term paper will be automatically checked for similarities using TurnItIn.

Grading scheme:
‒ 1 (Sehr gut): 100-90%
‒ 2 (Gut): 89.9-80%
‒ 3 (Befriedigend): 79.9-70%
‒ 4 (Genügend): 69.9-60%
‒ 5 (Nicht genügend): 59.9-0%

Examination topics

After an introductory module, in which the principles of phonotactic and morphonotactics are explained, you will carry out a synchronic or diachronic research project in groups, where you will investigate if a phonotactic pattern of your choice supports these ideas or not. This will involve formulating concrete expectations; extracting data from corpora and analysing them; as well as interpreting your findings and drawing conclusions.

Reading list

All readings will be provided on Moodle. The four papers marked with stars (**) are obligatory, the rest are recommendations for voluntary further reading.

**Baumann, A., Prömer, C., & Ritt, N. (2019). Word form shapes are selected to be morphotactically indicative. Folia Linguistica, 53(s40-s1), 129-151.
Calderone, B., Celata, C., Korecky-Kröll, K., Dressler, W. U. (2014). A computational approach to morphonotactics: Evidence from German. Language Sciences, 46, 59-70.
Celata, C., Korecky-Kröll, K., Ricci, I., & Dressler, W. U. (2015). Phonotactic processing and morpheme boundaries: Word-final/Cst/clusters in German. Italian Journal of Linguistics, 27, 185-110.
Donegan, P. J., & Stampe, D. 2009. Hypothesis of Natural Phonology. Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 45(1), 1-31.
Dressler, W. U. 2009. Natural Phonology as part of Natural Linguistics. Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 45(1), 33-42.
**Dressler, W. U., & Dziubalska-Kolaczyk, K. (2006). Proposing morphonotactis. Italian Journal of Linguistics, 18(2), 249.
Dressler, W. U., Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, K., & Pestal, L. (2010). Change and variation in morphonotactics. Folia Linguistica Historica, 44(31), 51-67.
Dressler, W. U., Hliničanová, M., Ďurčo, M., Mörth, K., & Korecky-Kröll, K. (2015). Phonotactic vs. morphonotactic obstruent clusters in Slovak and German. Italian Journal of Linguistics, 27(1), 45–59.
Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, K. 2019. On the structure, survival and change of consonant clusters. Folia Linguistica, 40(1), 107–127.
Hogg, R. M., & McCully, C. B. (1987). Metrical phonology: A course book. Cambridge University Press.
Kelley, M. C., & Tucker, B. V. (2017). The Effects of Phonotactic Probability on Auditory Recognition of Pseudo-Words. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 141(5), 4038.
Korecky-Kröll, K., Dressler, W. U., Freiberger, E. M., Reinisch, E., Mörth, K., & Libben, G. (2014). Morphonotactic and phonotactic processing in German-speaking adults. Language Sciences, 46, 48-58.
Labov, W. 1989. The child as linguistic historian. Language Variation and Change 1, 85–97.
**Matzinger, T., & Ritt, N. (2022). Phonotactically probable word shapes represent attractors in the cultural evolution of sound patterns. Cognitive Linguistics, 33(2), 415-446.
**Post, B., Marslen-Wilson, W. D., Randall, B., & Tyler, L. K. (2008). The processing of English regular inflections. Phonological cues to morphological structure. Cognition 109, 1-17.
Ritt, N. 2007. It seemed like a good idea at the time: Why there may not have been any Early Modern English vowel shortening before dentals after all. In U. Smit, S. Dollinger, J. Hüttner, G. Kaltenböck, & U. Lutzky (Eds.). Tracing English through time: Explorations in language variation. Festschrift for Herbert Schendl (339-353). Braunmueller.
Ritt, N., & Kazmierski, K. (2016). How rarities like gold came to exist: on co-evolutionary interactions between morphology and lexical phonotactics. English Language & Linguistics, 20(1), 1-29.
Sommer-Lolei, S., Korecky-Kröll, K., Christiner, M., & Dressler, W. U. (2021). The acquisition and processing of (mor) phonotactic consonant clusters in German. W. U. Dressler, B. Calderone, S. Sommer-Lolei, & K. Korecky-Kröll (Eds). Experimental, acquisitional and corpus linguistic approaches to the study of morphonotactics (77-100). Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
Vitevitch, M. S., & Aljasser, F. M. (2021). Phonotactics in Spoken‐Word Recognition. J. S. Pardo, L. C. Nygaard, R. E. Remez, & D. B. Pisoni (Eds). The Handbook of Speech Perception (286-308). Wiley.
Vitevitch, M. S., & Luce, P. A. (2016). Phonological neighborhood effects in spoken word perception and production. Annual Review of Linguistics, 2(1), 75-94.

Association in the course directory

Studium: MA 812 (2)
Code/Modul: M04 FS. M05
Lehrinhalt: 12-8143

Last modified: Su 26.01.2025 20:45