Rhythm and meter: Phonetics, phonology, typology
Chaire Internationale du Labex
Empirical Foundations of Linguistics, 2015
 

Les conférences se tiendront à l'Université Sorbonne nouvelle Paris 3 - centre Censier - 13, rue de Santeuil 75005 - 3ème étage - salle Las Vergnas (plan)
 

1.  Psychological and physiological background
5 mai 2015, 16h-18h

We consider what is known about the psychology of rhythm in production and perception, from the old “comb vs. chain models” of the 1950s to modern speculations about the “grammars” that can emerge from the topology of dynamical systems. We sketch the theory of entrainment in coupled non-linear oscillators, and consider the relevance of animal models, from theories of gait to studies of birdsong production. We summarize relevant aspects of perceptual psychology, including auditory streaming and grouping within streams.

2.  The phonology and phonetics of rhythm
12 mai 2015, 16h-18h

We consider the range of abstract representations and concrete measurements that have been proposed for the study of rhythm in speech, and the role of these representations in theories of phonology. We examine both old and new proposals for phonological and phonetic typologies relevant to the notion of “rhythm” in language.
 

3.  Poetic meter and text setting in song
19 mai 2015, 16h-18h

We survey the various types of metered verse: quantitative, syllabic/moraic, accentual syllabic, and others. We examine the principles that govern text‐t-‐tune alignment in song setting in various languages, and the role that each language’s prosodic structure plays. And we focus special attention on the innovations in text setting derived from Afro--‐Cuban and African--‐American musical styles in the course of the past 150 years, including specific attention to the metrics of hiphop performance in English and in French.
 

4.  Some future research questions and methods
9 juin 2015, 16h-18h

“Reproducible research” on linguistic rhythm and meter. What can we do with existing datasets? What new datasets (or new annotations of old datasets) do we need? What new open‐source software would help (e.g. accurate automatic scansion of poetry in text form; comparison to forced‐alignment of poetry reading; (semi-)automated analysis of lyric/meter alignment in musical recordings ;…)
New statistical models. For example, automatic analysis of quasi--‐periodic sequences (e.g. music with rubato and ritard; rhythmic speech with large deviations from isochronism; etc.
 

Pour plus d'information concernant le Professeur Liberman, rendez-vous sur : http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~myl/