Bert Vaux (; born November 19, 1968) is an American linguist, currently a professor of

phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...

and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Previously, he taught for nine years at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and three years at

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

. Vaux specializes in phonological theory, dialectology, field methodology, and languages of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. Vaux was editor of the journal ''Annual of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

Linguistics'' from 2001 to 2006 and is co-editor of the book series '' Oxford Surveys in Generative Phonology''.

Professional history

*Professor in Phonology and Morphology, University of Cambridge, 2021–present *Reader in Phonology and Morphology, University of Cambridge, 2010–2021 *University Lecturer in Phonology and Morphology, University of Cambridge, 2006–2010 *Professor of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 2003–2006 *Asst. and Assoc. Professor of Linguistics, Harvard University, 1994–2003 *PhD, Harvard University, 1994 Vaux's law (as labelled by Avery & Idsardi 2001, Iverson & Salmons 2003), which he first formulated in a 1998 article in ''Linguistic Inquiry'', states that laryngeally unspecified – i.e.

voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...

–

fricatives A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...

become W g( lottal Width pread glottis in systems contrasting fricatives without reference to W g thus they are to be aspirated or, more technically, to be pronounced with a spread

glottis The glottis (: glottises or glottides) is the opening between the vocal folds (the rima glottidis). The glottis is crucial in producing sound from the vocal folds. Etymology From Ancient Greek ''γλωττίς'' (glōttís), derived from ''γ ...

.Avery, Peter and William J. Idsardi (2001) "Laryngeal dimensions, completion and enhancement," in T. Alan Hall, ed.,
Distinctive Feature Theory
', 41-70. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter Inc.Iverson, Gregory K. & Joseph C. Salmons (2003). "Laryngeal enhancement in early Germanic," Phonology 20, 43-74.Krämer, Martin (2004
Affricates and the phonetic implementation of laryngeal contrast in Italian
," in the 26 Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft, Mainz, February 25–27.van Oostendorp, Marc (2007) "An Exception to Final Devoicing," in van der Torre, Erik Jan & Jeroen van de Weijer, eds., Voicing in Dutch. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Vaux, Bert (1998) "The Laryngeal Specifications of Fricatives," ''Linguistic Inquiry'' 29.3, 497-511.

Selected publications

*"The Phonology of Armenian", Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. *"Introduction to Linguistic Field Methods", Munich: Lincom Europa, 1999. *"Rules, Constraints, and Phonological Phenomena", Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. (ed. with Andrew Nevins) *"Linguistic Field Methods", Wipf & Stock Publishers (January 2007) *"Laryngeal markedness and aspiration" (with Bridget Samuels),

Phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...

22:395-436, 2005. *"Syllabification in Armenian, Universal Grammar, and the lexicon," Linguistic Inquiry 34.1, 2003. *"Feature spreading and the representation of place of articulation" (with Morris Halle and A. Wolfe) Linguistic Inquiry 31, 2000. *"The laryngeal specifications of fricatives," Linguistic Inquiry 29.3, 1998. *"The status of ATR in feature geometry," Linguistic Inquiry 27, 1996. *"Eastern Armenian: A Textbook", Caravan Books, 2003.

Publications mentioning Vaux's law

*"Distinctive Feature Theory" by T. Alan Hall, Walter de Gruyter, 2001, *"Affricates and the phonetic implementation of laryngeal contrast in Italian", Martin Kraemer, University of Ulster, February 2004 *"An exception to final devoicing" by Marc van Oostendorp, Meertens Instituut/KNAW

Notable press

Vaux is frequently consulted by the press for linguistic articles. For example, in 2004 he discussed product names that contain place names, such as

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

hot dogs. In 2005 he was interviewed in ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' regarding the differences in regions of the United States about whether to call carbonated soft drinks "soda", or "pop", or "coke". In 2002–2003 his survey to create a linguistics map for the United States was mentioned in the press. In 2005 the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' mentioned his research about how musician vocabulary affects vocabulary at large.LANGUAGE: A little South out West
by Leslie Guttman, The San Francisco Chronicle, March 13, 2005

Notes

External links

(archived 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaux, Bert 1968 births Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge Armenian studies scholars Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee faculty Living people People from Houston Phonologists from the United States University of Chicago alumni American academic journal editors Linguists of Armenian