English language and linguistics research seminar: Benjamin Macaulay, Lund University: Setting boundaries: towards a standardized protocol for documenting prosodic structure

The “syllable” exists as a combination of two ideas. On one hand, it is a domain into which speakers intuitively and consistently divide words, either as a response to a linguistic elicitation task or in the course of certain cultural practices. On the other hand, the syllable is a domain referenced by several types of phonological processes, including those that target onset vs. coda consonants, and those that involve stress, tone, and intonation. But what happens when these two approaches identify different models of the syllable within the same speaker?

A recent study has identified one such case, and with it, a number of “extralinguistic” factors that have a measurable effect on elicited data: culture, education, and experimental design can all affect how a speaker responds to tasks in a linguistic interview. This brings into question both the reliability of existing descriptions of prosody in the world’s languages as well as the role of direct speaker judgments in documentation going forward. Several scholars have recently responded to this controversy, offering a diverse array of perspectives on the nature of the syllable and the elicitation process. One point that nearly all agree on is that there needs to be a standardized protocol for the elicitation, analysis, and reporting of prosodic structures, similar to the standard used for segmental phonology.

This talk will present issues surrounding the documentation of prosodic structure with respect to metalinguistic knowledge, as well as outstanding hurdles in the development of a standardized protocol for use in the field. The data presented will come both from my own studies in prosodic documentation as well as from scholars who have responded to this work.