Laboratory phonology is an approach to

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

that emphasizes the synergy between phonological theory and scientific experiments, including laboratory studies of human speech and experiments on the acquisition and productivity of phonological patterns. The central goal of laboratory phonology is "gaining an understanding of the relationship between the cognitive and physical aspects of human speech"Cohn, Abigail
''Phonology: An Appraisal of the Field in 2007''
Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America. January 5, 2007. Anaheim, CA. through the use of an interdisciplinary approach that promotes scholarly exchange across disciplines, bridging

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...

with

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

, electrical engineering, and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

, and other fields.Beckman, M. and J. Kingston ''Introduction.'' In J. Kingston and M. Beckman (eds.) ''Papers in Laboratory Phonology I: Between the Grammar and the Physics of Speech''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1–16.Pierrehumbert, J.B. and C. Cloppe
''What is Labphon? And where is it going?''
''Papers in Laboratory Phonology 10'' 113-132. Although spoken speech has represented the major area of research, the investigation of sign languages and manual signs as encoding elements is also included in laboratory phonology. Important antecedents of the field include work by Kenneth N. Stevens and Gunnar Fant on the acoustic theory of speech production, Ilse Lehiste's work on prosody and intonation, and

Peter Ladefoged Peter Nielsen Ladefoged ( , ; 17 September 1925 – 24 January 2006) was a British linguist and phonetician. He was Professor of Phonetics at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he taught from 1962 to 1991. His book '' A Cour ...

's work on typological variation and methods for data capture. Current research in laboratory phonology draws heavily on the theories of metrical phonology and autosegmental phonology which are sought to be tested with help of experimental procedures, in laboratory settings, or through linguistic data collection at field sites, and though evaluation with statistical methods, such as exploratory data analysis. Laboratory phonology is particularly connected with the

Association for Laboratory Phonology The Association for Laboratory Phonology is a non-profit professional society for researchers interested in the sound structure of language. It was founded to promote the scientific study of all aspects of phonetics and phonology of oral and sign ...

, which was founded to promote the approach. In 2010, ''Laboratory Phonology - Journal of the Association for Laboratory Phonology'' was established as the journal of the association. Since 2016, it appears online in an open-access format. Among the researchers associated with laboratory phonology are Janet Pierrehumbert, Mary Beckman, Patricia Keating and D. Robert Ladd, who co-authored a paper discussing the approach. Pierrehumbert, J., M. Beckman, and D.R. Ladd (2000
''Conceptual Foundations of Phonology as a Laboratory Science.''
In N. Burton-Roberts, P. Carr and G.J. Docherty (eds.) ''Phonological Knowledge: Conceptual and Empirical Issues''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pages 273-303. Other prominent laboratory phonologists include

Catherine Browman Catherine Phebe Browman ( �kæθrɪn ˈfibi ˈbraʊ̯mən 1945–18 July 2008) was an American linguist and speech scientist. She received her Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1978. Browman was a resear ...

, Jennifer S. Cole, Louis Goldstein,

Julia Hirschberg Julia Hirschberg is an American computer scientist noted for her research on computational linguistics and natural language processing. Hirschberg was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2017 for contributions to the use ...

and

Ian Maddieson Ian Maddieson (born September 1, 1942 in Watford, United Kingdom) is British-American linguist and professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of New Mexico, in the United States. He has served as Vice-President of the International Phone ...

Notes

Phonetics Phonology Experimental social sciences {{Phonology-stub