Monthly Archives: September 2016

Call for papers, thematic day: French schwa: Old stories, new ideas?

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This year, the annual Journées FLORAL-PFC in Paris (17th-19th November) opens with a thematic day on schwa (see www.projet-pfc.net).

 Ever since 2002, the international research programme PFC (Phonologie du français contemporain), which brings together linguists working on French corpus phonology, has been organising an annual conference in Paris. The event has become known for its strong commitment to moving the field forward in a welcoming, but scientifically critical environment, and the conference thus creates a venue for new as well as experienced researchers who want to discuss ongoing research ­– be it on little known or well-known phenomena in, or relating to, French phonology.

At this year’s conference (17th-19th November), the first day will be fully devoted to schwa, which, next to liaison, constitutes one of the most widely discussed phenomena in French phonology. Being defined as a phonetically variable vowel (often mid front rounded) that alternates with zero, schwa’s many-faceted nature presents aspects best explained with reference to phonetics, morphology, lexicon, and orthography. In addition, its alternations, as well as its temporal and spectral characteristics, have proven subject to regional, social, stylistic, situational and medial variation. Nevertheless, whereas the study of large spoken corpora in the last decades has led to a complete revision of the analysis of French liaison, finely documenting its complex variation, an overall, data-driven debate on how to formally account for the rich complexity of French schwa still constitutes a lacuna in the literature.

The thematic day aims at filling some of the gaps in our knowledge about schwa, and we invite abstracts for 20-minute paper presentations, followed by 10-minute discussions, that address one or several of the above issues. Depending on the number of received abstracts, we may be able to consider other presentation formats.

A one-page abstract, including title and references, can be sent to Helene N. Andreassen (helene.n.andreassen@uit.no)and Elissa Pustka (elissa.pustka@univie.ac.at). Deadline: Friday 30th September. Note that we welcome presentations in English and French.

Please do not hesitate to diffuse the invitation to other linguists who might be interested in participating.

This year, the conference is held at Cité universitaire internationale, Maison de Norvège, on 17th-19th November. It is organised in collaboration with ESLO (Enquête Socio-Linguistique à Orléans), with whom PFC entered a cooperation in 2014. Since then, the official name of the annual conference and the research programme is FLORAL-PFC (Français Langue ORAle et Linguistique).

For more information about the research programme and the conference, cf. www.projet-pfc.net.

Welcome to Paris!

AMP 2016 program and registration

From Rachel Walker

The preliminary program for the 2016 Annual Meeting on Phonology (October 21-23, 2016), to be held at the University of Southern California, has now been posted and can be found at the conference website: https://amp2016usc.wordpress.com. Registration for the conference is now open, and is available at a reduced rate until October 1. Information about travel and accommodations can also be found on the conference website. We look forward to seeing many of you in Los Angeles in October!

Computational phonology position at NYU

ASSISTANT OR ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF COMPUTATIONAL PHONOLOGY

Department of Linguistics
Graduate School of Arts and Science
New York University

The Department of Linguistics at New York University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the assistant or associate level in computational phonology, beginning September 1, 2017 (pending administrative and budgetary approval). Applicants should have a strong research record and a demonstrated ability to teach. We seek outstanding scholars who employ computational methods in investigating phonological questions, phonological learning, and/or the psycholinguistics of speech processing or perception. Responsibilities include teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, and supervising student research. Review of applications will begin on 1 November 2016.

Applicants should submit an application including a description of their research program; a teaching statement; curriculum vitae; names of three referees; and work samples. Linguists who work on endangered languages and/or under-researched languages are encouraged to apply. Letters of recommendation: Once an application has been completed using the on-line system, an automatically-generated email will be sent to each person named as a recommendation letter writer explaining how to upload their recommendation letters privately and securely. An application is “complete” as soon as all required documents have been uploaded and the required number of referees have been identified. Note that files can still be updated even after an application is complete. To apply, see the NYU Department of Linguistics web site at http://linguistics.as.nyu.edu/page/home and https://apply.interfolio.com/36748. Instructions for electronic submission of documents can be found under the link ‘Employment’. Departmental contact: Professor Lisa Davidson (lisa.davidson@nyu.edu ).

The Faculty of Arts and Science at NYU is at the heart of a leading research university that spans the globe. We seek scholars of the highest caliber, who embody the diversity of the United States as well as the global society in which we live. We strongly encourage applications from women, racial and ethnic minorities, and other individuals who are under-represented in the profession, across color, creed, race, ethnic and national origin, physical ability, gender and sexual identity, or any other legally protected basis. NYU affirms the value of differing perspectives on the world as we strive to build the strongest possible university with the widest reach. To learn more about the FAS commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion, please read http://as.nyu.edu/page/diversityinitiative .

EOE/AA/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

Position: Assistant Professor in Phonology, University of Southern California

The Department of Linguistics in the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in theoretical phonology with an anticipated start date of Fall 2017. The department particularly welcomes applicants whose research incorporates the use of computational or quantitative approaches.

Duties include maintaining an active program of research, strong commitment to teaching and supervision at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and participating in the academic life of the department. Applicants must have a doctoral degree prior to start of appointment.

In order to be considered for this position, all candidates are required to submit an electronic application at the USC application website from which the link can be found here: https://jobs.usc.edu/postings/73981. The applicant should upload a single file containing a cover letter, CV, research statement, teaching dossier, writing samples, and the names of three referees that will be contacted by USC. Any questions may be directed to Rachel Walker, Phonology Search Chair, rwalker@usc.edu.

USC is an equal opportunity educator and employer, proudly pluralistic and firmly committed to providing equal opportunity for outstanding persons of every race, gender, creed and background. The University particularly encourages women, members of underrepresented groups, and individuals with disabilities to apply. USC will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in an undue hardship. Further information is available by contacting uschr@usc.edu.

 

Application deadline: December 1, 2016

New Conference on Computational Modeling in Linguistics

We are planning a new conference on computational modeling in linguistics for Fall 2017 and would love to get input from phonologists and other linguists about how we can best realize our goals for this conference and make it as accessible and useful to linguists as possible.

Please follow the link to our lab blog for full details and discussion, but to summarize, this conference is intended for linguists and cognitive scientists using computational and mathematical approaches to study the human language faculty.  We’re particularly interested in input from linguists on the following key aspects of the current plans:

  • The short-term and long-term co-location/venue possibilities
  • The name and ideal scope/audience for the conference
  • The tentative plan to have short paper (6-8pp) submissions (rather than abstract submissions). Please go to this post for discussion and comments on this aspect of the current plans.

We’ve had quite a bit of discussion on our blog already, primarily from potential participants of this conference who also regularly attend workshops and/or conferences affiliated with the ACL. This discussion has been very useful, but the conference would ideally be accessible and appealing to a broader community of linguists than is currently represented in the discussion. So we are looking for additional input from linguists who are potentially interested in this new conference, but who do not generally attend ACL – we’d be very grateful to hear about the kinds of considerations that could increase or decrease the chances phonologists and other linguists would attend and/or submit their best work to this conference.

Please visit our lab blog to read the details and to leave your comments!

Many thanks!
Gaja Jarosz