“Iconic hand gestures from ideophones exhibit stability and emergent phonological properties” published in CogLing We are pleased to announce the publication of a new paper by Arthur, Thomas (joint first authors), Aaron, and Youngah in the journal Cognitive Linguistics. The paper, titled “Iconic hand gestures from ideophones exhibit stability and emergent phonological properties: an iterated learning study,” explores the stability and phonological properties of iconic hand gestures associated with ideophones. Ideophones are marked words that depict sensory imagery and are usually considered iconic by native speakers. The study investigates how these gestures are transmitted across generations using a linear iterated learning [...]

“Preference for Distinct Variants in Learning Sound Correspondences During Dialect Acquisition” published on Language and Speech We are pleased to announce that Xiaoyu and Youngah’s paper, “Preference for Distinct Variants in Learning Sound Correspondences During Dialect Acquisition,” has been published in the journal Language and Speech. This research delves into how learners acquire sound correspondences (SCs) in second dialect acquisition. SCs occur when sounds occupy corresponding positions in cognate words of related languages or dialects. While SCs can consist of both similar and distinct variants, the impact of this similarity on learning has been understudied. In their study, Xiaoyu and Youngah [...]

“Substantive Bias in Artificial Phonology Learning” published on Lang. Linguist. Compass Artistic impression of the study. (AI-generated artwork) We are pleased to announce the publication of a review article by Ivy and Youngah, in Language and Linguistics Compass. The article, titled “Substantive Bias in Artificial Phonology Learning,” provides a comprehensive review of the research on substantive bias in phonological learning since the influential 2012 paper by Moreton and Pater. The review categorizes studies into vowel, consonant, and suprasegmental patterns, highlighting advancements in experimental paradigms, the definition of phonetic naturalness, and the exploration of various phonological phenomena. It emphasizes how subtle methodological [...]