진학프로석·박사 채용 접수 플랫폼

ICONIC aims at understanding how iconicity, i.e. the perceived resemblance of form and meaning of words, evolves through cultural evolution over time. The project uses a combination of iterated learning experiments, acoustic analyses and iconicity rating experiments. Acoustic recordings of individual speech transmission outcomes allow us to measure which combinations of acoustic features speakers use to express size-based iconic relationships, including acoustic dimensions such as vowel quality, voice quality, and pitch. After defining the acoustic profile of iconicity, ICONIC will explore and quantify the (in)stability of iconic form-meaning pairs across generations to experimentally probe the hypothesis that iconic form-meaning pairs are robust to change. This empirical approach will not only shed new light on the evolution of words, but it will also serve as the first proof of concept of how we can harness experimental innovations to explore questions related to sound change in the laboratory.

The postdoctoral fellow will be a full member of the team aiming at successfully completing the project’s goals. The candidate will help coordinating data collection for the iterative learning experiments in the laboratory and iconicity rating experiments through crow-sourcing online. Moreover, the candidate will set up data analysis pipelines for the analysis of the data. The candidate is expected to methodological engage with previous empirical literature on iconicity and iterated learning experiments. The candidate will help train the PhD candidate and train and supervise research assistants. 

For more information and how to apply: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/277523/postdoctoral-research-fellow-connected-to-iconic