An embodied and situated perspective on speech and language - Changes and challenges in understanding speech variability: A review over half a century

old_uid17932
titleAn embodied and situated perspective on speech and language - Changes and challenges in understanding speech variability: A review over half a century
start_date2019/10/04
schedule16h-18h
onlineno
summaryOver the last century, our understanding of variability in the speech signal has undergone a variety of changes. Once regarded as noise in the signal, it has now become a major topic of investigation revealing evidence for the underlying biological, cognitive and social factors of speech. In this overview talk, I will review theories and data discussing variability with respect to visible and audible biological factors as well as structures and mechanisms beneath the surface. Furthermore, I will review how our knowledge about variability and social factors has evolved from long-term adaptations between different social groups to short term adaptations regulating social behaviour. Finally, I will discuss how variability has been treated with respect to the nature of linguistic representation: from a phonemic level to a subphonemic one (fine phonetic detail), from abstract representations to enriched multisensory representations stored in the episodic memory. I will then summarize which challenges variability poses for theoretical models and empirical linguistics.
responsiblesIsel