Laboratory phonology is an approach to
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 ...
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 language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
with
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
,
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
,
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
, 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 Course ...
'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 through evaluation with statistical methods, such as
exploratory data analysis
In statistics, exploratory data analysis (EDA) is an approach of data analysis, analyzing data sets to summarize their main characteristics, often using statistical graphics and other data visualization methods. A statistical model can be used or ...
.
Laboratory phonology is particularly connected with the
Association for Laboratory Phonology, 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,
Jennifer S. Cole,
Louis Goldstein Louis Goldstein may refer to:
* Louis L. Goldstein, politician
* Louis M. Goldstein, linguist
{{hndis, Goldstein, Louis