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On (mis)aligned innovative perception and production norms

  • Georgia Zellou and Patrice Speeter Beddor
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Speech Dynamics
This chapter is in the book Speech Dynamics

Abstract

The misalignment model of phonological change (e.g., Harrington 2012; Kleber et al. 2012) postulates that a possible catalyst for new production norms - that is, for sound change - is a mismatch between perception and production in a speech community: although perceived and produced speech forms are typically aligned, during change new perception norms are hypothesized to develop in advance of new production norms. This chapter further evaluates the misalignment model from two perspectives. The first perspective considers phonologically unstable situations of change in progress. A review of recent experimental findings from studies of ongoing change suggests that the data support the misalignment model in that, when perception and production are misaligned, perception generally leads production; however, this pattern holds especially at the speech community (rather than individual speaker-listener) level and for changes that are less advanced in the community. This emerging, more nuanced picture is further assessed in light of current agent-based models of change, which assume that perception and production are aligned, even during periods of change. The chapter’s second perspective is more exploratory and considers, within phonologically stable situations, preconditions that might contribute to misalignment. Phonetic, social, lexical, and stylistic factors, as well as individual differences and possible lifespan change are assessed in a speculative approach aimed at providing direction for future investigations of the emergence of new perception and production norms.

Abstract

The misalignment model of phonological change (e.g., Harrington 2012; Kleber et al. 2012) postulates that a possible catalyst for new production norms - that is, for sound change - is a mismatch between perception and production in a speech community: although perceived and produced speech forms are typically aligned, during change new perception norms are hypothesized to develop in advance of new production norms. This chapter further evaluates the misalignment model from two perspectives. The first perspective considers phonologically unstable situations of change in progress. A review of recent experimental findings from studies of ongoing change suggests that the data support the misalignment model in that, when perception and production are misaligned, perception generally leads production; however, this pattern holds especially at the speech community (rather than individual speaker-listener) level and for changes that are less advanced in the community. This emerging, more nuanced picture is further assessed in light of current agent-based models of change, which assume that perception and production are aligned, even during periods of change. The chapter’s second perspective is more exploratory and considers, within phonologically stable situations, preconditions that might contribute to misalignment. Phonetic, social, lexical, and stylistic factors, as well as individual differences and possible lifespan change are assessed in a speculative approach aimed at providing direction for future investigations of the emergence of new perception and production norms.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. On the nature of speech dynamics: approaches to studying synchronic variation and diachronic change 1
  4. Part 1: Empirical perspectives on diachronic change
  5. Fifty years of monophthong and diphthong shifts in Mainstream Australian English 17
  6. Coarticulation guides sound change: an acoustic-phonetic study of real-time change in word-initial /l/ over four decades of Glaswegian 49
  7. The impact of automated phonetic alignment and formant tracking workflows on sound change measurement 89
  8. One place, two speech communities: differing responses to sound change in Mainstream and Aboriginal Australian English in a small rural town 117
  9. Prosodic change in 100 years: the fall of the rise-fall in an Albanian variety 145
  10. Part 2: Factors conditioning synchronic variation
  11. Control of larynx height in vowel production revisited: a real-time MRI study 175
  12. Sheila’s roses (are in the paddick): reduced vowels in Australian English 207
  13. The future of the queen: how to pronounce “König✶innen” ‘gender-neutrally’ in German 245
  14. Synchronic variation and diachronic change: mora-counting and syllable-counting dialects in Japanese 273
  15. Reconstructing the timeline of a consonantal change in a German dialect: evidence from agent-based modeling 307
  16. Part 3: Theoretical approaches at the interface between synchronic variation and diachronic change
  17. On (mis)aligned innovative perception and production norms 343
  18. Phonological patterns and dependency relations may arise from aerodynamic factors 369
  19. Actuation without production bias 395
  20. Understanding the role of broadcast media in sound change 425
  21. Connecting prosody and duality of patterning in diachrony, typology, phylogeny, and ontogeny 453
  22. Index 483
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110765328-012

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. On the nature of speech dynamics: approaches to studying synchronic variation and diachronic change 1
  4. Part 1: Empirical perspectives on diachronic change
  5. Fifty years of monophthong and diphthong shifts in Mainstream Australian English 17
  6. Coarticulation guides sound change: an acoustic-phonetic study of real-time change in word-initial /l/ over four decades of Glaswegian 49
  7. The impact of automated phonetic alignment and formant tracking workflows on sound change measurement 89
  8. One place, two speech communities: differing responses to sound change in Mainstream and Aboriginal Australian English in a small rural town 117
  9. Prosodic change in 100 years: the fall of the rise-fall in an Albanian variety 145
  10. Part 2: Factors conditioning synchronic variation
  11. Control of larynx height in vowel production revisited: a real-time MRI study 175
  12. Sheila’s roses (are in the paddick): reduced vowels in Australian English 207
  13. The future of the queen: how to pronounce “König✶innen” ‘gender-neutrally’ in German 245
  14. Synchronic variation and diachronic change: mora-counting and syllable-counting dialects in Japanese 273
  15. Reconstructing the timeline of a consonantal change in a German dialect: evidence from agent-based modeling 307
  16. Part 3: Theoretical approaches at the interface between synchronic variation and diachronic change
  17. On (mis)aligned innovative perception and production norms 343
  18. Phonological patterns and dependency relations may arise from aerodynamic factors 369
  19. Actuation without production bias 395
  20. Understanding the role of broadcast media in sound change 425
  21. Connecting prosody and duality of patterning in diachrony, typology, phylogeny, and ontogeny 453
  22. Index 483
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