Information Density and the Predictability of Phonetic Structure

Project C1

C1 is concerned with the relation between information density and linguistic encoding in phonetics and human speech processing. After investigating effects on subword (segmental and syllable) levels, in the third phase C1 will explore how information-theoretic effects change dynamically, in adults and children, as interactive tasks and conversations unfold. We investigate the extent to which information structure and accommodative behaviour correlate with information-theoretic factors. We will incorporate the results from all three phases in order to provide a consolidated view of the effects of structure-based predictability on the phonetic details of spoken language.

Keywords: phonetics, speech processing, information structure, accommodation