Speaker: Ben Flickstein and Ezer Rasin (Tel Aviv)
Title: Towards a phonological feature system for birdsong
Time: Monday, February 10th, 5pm – 6:30pm
Location: 32-D831
Abstract: A foundational assumption in theoretical phonology is that phonological representations are built from distinctive features, typically stated in articulatory terms. Those features define natural classes that phonological processes typically apply to or are conditioned by. Even though birdsong shares important properties with human phonology, the dominant approach in birdsong research has not yet explored the possibility that the sound patterns of birdsong could be tied to cognitive, articulatory-oriented features. This presentation of an ongoing research project reports on a preliminary attempt to create such a feature system for the song of canaries.