Song Jiang and Alexei Kochetov Publish on Mandarin rhotics!

Attendees of the 13th International Seminar on Speech Production, ISSP.

Song Jiang (left), PhD candidate at the Uoft Phonetics Lab, and Alexei Kochetov, Professor of Linguistics (right), recently published their work, Variability in the articulation of Beijing Mandarin rhotic vowels. 

Rhotic vowels are modified by the consonant /r/ - think "heard" and "bird".

Noticing that the "contextual and/or inter-speaker variability" of North American English rhotic vowels such as /ɹ/ and [ɚ] was widely documented, and that that of the Mandarin rhotic vowels, such as [ɚ, u˞], was less so, they set out to conduct an "extensive ultrasound investigation" of these rhotic vowels in Beijing Mandarin.

In fact, they were able to indicate a "greater than previously reported variability in the articulation of Beijing Mandarin rhotic vowels" by examining variation in tongue configuration, (retroflex or bunched) vocalic contexts, and reported greater similarity between rhotic vowels to rhotic vowels, than in rhotic and non-rhotic vowels.

This publication was presented as a poster on Wednesday, May 15th at the 13th International Seminar on Speech Production, (ISSP 2024) held this year in Autrans, France.

We are so proud of this momentous accomplishment, and congratulate them on their hard work. 

(All quotes from the paper's abstract, found in the link above.)

Sali Tagliamonte's CRC Grant is Renewed!

Sali Tagliamonte is one of Spring 2024's recipient of a Canada Research Chair (CRC) Grant renewal!

The renewal of this grant, which was confirmed earlier in June, awards $200,000 annually for 7 years to the University College linguist. 

For more information, see https://www.utoronto.ca/celebrates/14-u-t-researchers-awarded-new-or-renewed-canada-research-chairs or check out the relevant accounts: @salitag, or @theucprincipal, as well as:

X: @UC_UofT

Instagram: @uc_uoft; @theucprincipal

YouTube: @UC_UofT

Facebook: @universitycollegetoronto

LinkedIn: @University of Toronto - University College

Congratulations once more to Sali, and best of luck in the future!

Naomi Nagy, Linguistics Chair, Publishes Book about Heritage Language Variation and Change!

On June 27th, 2024, Department of Linguistics Chair, Naomi Nagy, published her book, Heritage Languages: Extending variationist approaches. [Click link to purchase :-) or get it from UofT's library]. 

In Canada, the term, "heritage language" refers to a language learned in the home by children, if that language is not one of Canada's official languages (French, English). Half the people in Toronto are heritage-language speakers!

This book seeks to dispel stigma surrounding the use of one's heritage language by investigating cross-generational variation and change in conversations with 400+ speakers, in 8 different heritage languages, in Toronto. The findings reveal many similarities between heritage and homeland varieties.

"Introduc[ing] new methodology to help readers understand and apply variationist sociolinguistic approaches to quantitatively analyze spontaneous speech," this novel approach to heritage language research showcases how change in grammar of heritage languages resembles change patterns seen hegemonic, majority languages, contradicting findings of "simplification/attrition patterns in experimental heritage language studies." [quoted from the publicity blurbs]

Comparing patterns not only across languages, but across generations, this research quotes heritage speakers to give voice and pride to the use of their languages. 

Nagy presented some of this research at BAM's Language Research Day, as her talk on Heritage Language Variation and Change (HLVC), which we covered on the blog earlier in July. Other findings are on the project's webpage.

This book promises to be a veritable toolbox for those interested in learning about or researching heritage languages, dedicated to language revitalization.

Currently, the Department Chair is in Italy conducting research also relevant to this pursuit - about the variation in Franco-Provencal language varieties over time and space, and how to connect speakers of different varieties via social media.

 

 

The author reports that this book was much more fun to write than her dissertation!

Greg Antono Successfully Defends Thesis Proposal!

In the early hours of Monday, July 15th, 2024, Greg Antono presented his thesis proposal - Topics in Mandarin referring expressions - to a committee consisting of Michela Ippolito, Craig Chambers, and his supervisor, Daphna Heller.

Seeing an impressive attendance of UofT linguistics, and a successful defense, this presentation was a huge accomplishment for Antono.

The Department of Linguistics congratulates him, and looks forward to celebrating a successful thesis defense soon!

PhD Candidate Angelika Kiss Successfully Completes Thesis Defense - Congratulations, Doctor!

On Thursday, June 20th, 2024, Angelika Kiss of the Department of Linguistics completed her last step toward officially becoming Dr. Kiss! Congratulations!

Completing her thesis defense of Form-meaning relations in non-canonical questions, Dr. Kiss impressed her committee consisting of Professors Guillaume Thomas, Laura Colantoni, and Keir Moulton, as well as her supervisor, Professor Michela Ippolito. Also in attendance at the defense was Fatima Hamlaoui, who performed internal/external reviews.

Dr. Kiss' Thesis Defense Reception, featuring Guillaume Thomas, Fatima Hamlaoui, Michela Ippolito, Angelika Kiss, Hans-Martin Gaertner, Keir Moulton (L-R)

Dr. Michela Ippolito and Dr. Angelika Kiss

The Department of Linguistics congratulate her on the successful completion of her dissertation, and are excited to see her future works.

Our Newest Alumni: Linguistics PhDs at Convocation

Announcing the newest PhDs from the Department of Linguistics! They were conferred their degrees at convocation on June 5th.

Sahar Taghipour: Case and Phi-agreement in Laki: Parametrizing split-ergativity in Kurdish

Sahar with her supervisor, Professor Arsalan Kahnemuyipour.

Andrei Munteanu: Probabilistic Evaluation of Comparative Reconstructions 

Kiranpreet Nara: An acoustic study of Punjabi tones and an investigation of ongoing tonal changes

The Graduate Office congratulates and welcomes their newest alumni into this exciting next chapter of their journeys. 

Arcadian Greek vs. Standard Greek: Dr. Photini Coutsougera Publishes A Dictionary with the Answers

From Dr. Coutsougera: 

"""

Dr. Photini Coutsougera of Mississauga Campus' Language Studies Department has recently published a new book, A Dictionary of Northeastern Arcadian Greek [in Greek] with Patakis Publications, Athens, Greece (2024)/ 320 pages. 

A Look Inside: Letter Αα, p. 66

The Dictionary of Northeastern Arcadian Greek comprises 4.200 entries and 5.120 senses. These entries were primarily collected during field work, over a period of approximately thirteen years, and from existing written sources. 

Subsequently, they were verified one by one  by a group of native speakers of the dialect, aged 80 and over. Each entry contains semantic, phonological, morphological, syntactic and stylistic information. It also contains a plethora of authentic examples in use, synonyms, antonyms, idioms and idiomatic phrases, proverbs, sayings, and verses from local folk poetry. Finally, a 28-page Prologue includes a compact grammar of the dialect, lays out the research methodology employed in the data collection, and defines Arcadian Greek on the basis of linguistic criteria which systematically differentiate it from Standard Greek. 

This book aspires to bring the Peloponnesian varieties of Greek to the fore as they have been conspicuously absent from the literature.

                                                                 """

Language Research Day - BAM!

On Monday, June 3rd, the University of Toronto hosted Language Research Day (LRD), a student-led academic conference designed to facilitate interaction and learning among graduate students in the field of language research. 

Spanning campuses, languages, and levels of inquiry, this hybrid conference hosted over 100 in-person and virtual attendees.

Professor and Linguistics Department Chair Naomi Nagy gave the opening keynote, (Heritage) Russian case-marking: Variation and paths of change.

Dr. Craig Chambers, a joint PhD in Cognitive Science and Linguistics, gave the closing keynote, Where and how does nonlinguistic cognition fit into language abilities? This presentation was drawn from a cross-sectional study on real-time language processing, and aids in the complete understanding of the "mental architecture supporting language abilities across the human lifespan."

One other Linguistics Dept member presented: PhD student Nick Haggarty, who was featured in June's spotlight on Queer Linguistics.

Other University of Toronto departments in attendance included Speech Language Pathology, Psychology, and Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations, making up a participation as diverse as the languages discussed at the conference. 

The Linguistics Department, in part responsible for funding the event, was also represented by Pedro Mateo Pedro, as well as Angelika Kiss, who helped organize, and recently defended her PhD thesis (to be covered on the blog soon)!

To see more information, check out BAM's Instagram page or the #LRD2024.

We look forward to seeing the development of this exciting event in 2025!

Goodbye Old Year, and Hello, Summer!

On April 30, the Department celebrated the end of year with games and snacks, letting the 2023-2024 academic year out with a bang. 

Best of wishes for the summer, and see you all in September!

2023-2024 Cowper and Dresher Prizes - Congratulations Calvin and Yanfei!

Named after two emeriti professors in Linguistics Department, Elizabeth Cowper and Elan Dresher, the Cowper and Dresher Prizes are distinguished awards for graduate students of Linguistics. 

The 2023-2024 winners were announced earlier in June 2024.

Calvin Quick, a PhD student interested in Mediaeval Welsh poetry, won the Cowper Prize for his papers “Tense and finiteness in embedded bod-clauses” and “Problematizing Linear Approaches to Modifier-Head Adjacency Restrictions.”

For her paper, “An OT Analysis of Stress Patterns of Oneida (Iroquoian)” Yanfei Lu was awarded the Dresher Prize, a recognition within the LIN department for outstanding graduate student work in Phonology.

Yanfei Lu, winner of the
Dresher Prize.

We are so proud of both the students, congratulations!

Tri-Agency Confirms Increased Funding for CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC Awards!

Earlier in June, Tri-Agency confirmed that, effective September 1st, 2024, the Government of Canada will be increasing award values for students and postgraduate researchers, including new and current award holders.

Advocating for "fairness for every generation," and a commitment to researchers of the future, this increase in budget is funded by Canada’s federal granting agencies, including CIHR, (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) NSERC, (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) and SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada).

The value of master's scholarships will be increased to $27,000/year, while those for doctoral students will jump to $40,000/year. Current and new postdoctoral fellowships will increase to $70,000.

Students holding an SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship are also included in this increase, totaling $40,000/year. 

Programs not affected by this increase include Vanier and Banting, worth $50,000 and $70,000 respectively.

More goals expected to be met by this budget increase can be found on the Budget Canada website.

To apply for any of these incredibly exciting awards, see the list below:

CIHR Health Research Training Award Programs

NSERC Students and Fellows

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

At the Linguistics Department blog, we strongly encourage any and all interested and qualifying parties to apply for these awards, especially after these recent increases, and we look forward to writing many posts documenting your success.