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Prosody as a system of suprasegmental linguistic information such as rhythm and intonation is a prime candidate for looking at the relation between language and music in a principled way. This claim is based on several aspects: First, prosody is concerned with acoustic correlates of language and music that are directly comparable with each other by their physical properties such as duration and pitch. Second, prosodic accounts suggest a hierarchical organization of prosodic units that not only resembles a syntactic hierarchy, but is viewed as (part of) an interface to syntax. Third, prosody provides a very promising ground for evolutionary accounts of language and music. Fourth, bilateral tr...
Human speech and music share a number of similarities and differences. One of the closest similarities is their temporal nature as both (i) develop over time, (ii) form sequences of temporal intervals, possibly differing in duration and acoustical marking by different spectral properties, which are perceived as a rhythm, and (iii) generate metrical expectations. Human brains are particularly efficient in perceiving, producing, and processing fine rhythmic information in music and speech. However a number of critical questions remain to be answered: Where does this human sensitivity for rhythm arise? How did rhythm cognition develop in human evolution? How did environmental rhythms affect the...
Two of the most important social skills in humans are the ability to determine the moods of those around us, and to use this to guide our behavior. To accomplish this, we make use of numerous cues. Among the most important are vocal cues from both speech and non-speech sounds. Music is also a reliable method for communicating emotion. It is often present in social situations and can serve to unify a group's mood for ceremonial purposes (funerals, weddings) or general social interactions. Scientists and philosophers have speculated on the origins of music and language, and the possible common bases of emotional expression through music, speech and other vocalizations. They have found increasi...
Why do we think that we can understand animal voices - such as the aggressive barking of a pet dog, and the longing meows of the family cat? Why do we think of deep voices as dominant and high voices as submissive. Are there universal principles governing our own communication system? Can we even see how close animals are related to us by constructing an evolutionary tree based on similarities and dissimilarities in acoustic signaling? Research on the role of emotions in acoustic communication and its evolution has often been neglected, despite its obvious role in our daily life. When we infect others with our laugh, soothe a crying baby with a lullaby, or get goose bumps listening to classi...
This eBook aims to deepen our understanding of emotional communication by introducing “dynamic” perspectives. Facial and bodily expressions of emotion functions as indispensable communicative signals for human beings. People decode the emotional information conveyed by facial/bodily expressions and use this to coordinate cooperative or competitive social relationships. Experimental psychological research has long investigated these important means of emotional communication. However, this was typically done by using static stimuli of facial/bodily expressions to assess the detection and interpretation of emotions. This paradigm was also adopted in neuropsychological, neurophysiological, ...
Bringing together a comprehensive collection of newly-commissioned articles, this Handbook covers the most recent developments across a range of sub-fields relevant to the study of second language Spanish. Provides a unique and much-needed collection of new research in this subject, compiled and written by experts in the field Offers a critical account of the most current, ground-breaking developments across key fields, each of which has seen innovative empirical research in the past decade Covers a broad range of issues including current theoretical approaches, alongside a variety of entries within such areas as the sound system, morphosyntax, individual and social factors, and instructed language learning Presents a variety of methodological approaches spanning the active areas of research in language acquisition
Music and dance can change our sense of time. Both rely on synchronizing our attention and actions with sounds and with other people, both involve memory and expectation, and both can give rise to experiences of flow and pleasure. Performing Time explores our experience of time in dance and music, from the perspectives of performers and audiences, and informed by the most recent research in dance science, musicology, neuroscience, and psychology. It includes discussions of tempo and pacing, coordination and synchrony, the performer's experience of time, audiences' temporal expectations, the effect of extreme slowness, and our individual versus collective senses of time. At its core, the book...
This book provides a forum for methodological discussions emanating from researchers engaged in studying how individuals acquire an additional language. Whereas publications in the field of second language acquisition generally report on empirical studies with relatively little space dedicated to questions of method, the current book gave authors the opportunity to more fully develop a discussion piece around a methodological issue in connection with the interpretation of language-learning data. The result is a set of seven thought-provoking contributions from researchers with diverse interests. Three main topics are addressed in these chapters: the role of native-speaker norms in second-language analyses, the impact of epistemological stance on experimental design and/or data interpretation, and the challenges of transcription and annotation of language-learning data, with a focus on data ambiguity. Authors expand on these crucial issues, reflect on best practices, and provide in many instances concrete examples of the impact they have on data interpretation.
This handbook provides a comprehensive review of new developments in the study of the relationship between the brain and language, from the perspectives of both basic research and clinical neuroscience. Includes contributions from an international team of leading figures in brain-language research Features a novel emphasis on state-of-the-art methodologies and their application to the central questions in the brain-language relationship Incorporates research on all parts of language, from syntax and semantics to spoken and written language Covers a wide range of issues, including basic level and high level linguistic functions, individual differences, and neurologically intact and different clinical populations