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I define myself academically as a linguistic phonetician, which means that my primary domains of interest are:
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Phonetics:
The physics of speech sounds. I am interested practically in all aspects of linguistic phonetics (i.e. phonetics as
a component of the grammar), both theoretically and empirically, including (not necessarily in this order):
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Articulatory Phonetics:
types, magnitudes, timing and cooridnation of articulatory gestures.
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Perceptual Phonetics:
the effects of patterns of and interrelations between cues in the auditory signal on identification and
discrimination of sounds.
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Acoustic and Auditory Phonetics:
the acoustic properties of the pressure signal created by the speaker and their translation to neural signal
by the auditory mechanisms of the listener. I keep claiming that acoustic and auditory phonetics are not part of
linguistics unless they are explicitly discussed as reflections of articulation or as cues for perception -
otherwise they are simply properties of the medium. But even as such I find them interesting.
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Phonology-Phonetics Interface:
The interface between the continuant physical world of speech sounds and the discrete abstract world of language sound
representations, including:
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Phonetic grounding of phonological typology:
how properties of the motor and auditory system shape phonemic inventories, phonotactics and prosodic systems.
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The role of phonetics in sound change:
how running speech phenomena such as lenition and gestural overlap, or cue-related phenomena such as redundancy
or weakness, become grammaticized and change the phonological system of a language.
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The role of phonological structure in phonetic performance:
how phonemic contrasts, phonotactics, prosodic and morphological hierarchies are manifested in production and
perception of the speech signal.
I also happen to find the following areas quite interesting:
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Experimental Phonology and Morpho-Phonology:
and by that I mean non-phonetic aspects of phonology studied by experiments eliciting native speakers' intuitions
systematically. I am not too interested in phonological and morphological theory per-se, but there is something
about the complicated yet regulated patterns of discrete intuitions, and about the wisdom needed for eliciting them
carefully, that is occasionally fascinating and refreshing when you are always concerned with the continuum-based
nature of the phonetic world.
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Sociolinguistics:
this is a huge domain in which I know too little, and my interests are more anecdotal and perhaps less academic.
I am mostly interested at language attitude as a function of national (and to a lesser degree religious or
social) identity. I have particular interest in the socio-linguistics of Hebrew (my native language) and Irish
(my long-time obsession, if you want).
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