Inga Vendelin

Bio: Inga Vendelin is an academic researcher from School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. The author has contributed to research in topics: Loanword & Functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 6 publications receiving 376 citations. Previous affiliations of Inga Vendelin include Centre national de la recherche scientifique & University of Paris.

On the perceptual origin of loanword adaptations: experimental evidence from

Abstract: Japanese shows an asymmetry in the treatment of word-final [n] in loanwords from English and French: while it is adapted as a moraic nasal consonant in loanwords from English, it is adapted with a following epenthetic vowel in loanwords from French. We provide experimental evidence that this asymmetry is due to phonetic differences in the realisation of word-final [n] in English and French, and, consequently, to the way in which English and French word-final [n] are perceived by native speakers of Japanese. Specifically, French but not English word-final [n] has a strong vocalic release that Japanese listeners perceive as their native vowel [ɯ]. We propose a psycholinguistic model in which most loanword adaptations originate in perceptual assimilation, a process which takes place during perception and which maps non-native sounds and sound structures onto the phonetically closest native ones. We compare our model to alternatives couched within phonological theory.

On the perceptual origin of loanword adaptations: experimental evidence from Japanese

Abstract: Japanese shows an asymmetry in the treatment of word-final [n] in loanwords from English and French: while it is adapted as a moraic nasal consonant in loanwords from English, it is adapted with a following epenthetic vowel in loanwords from French. We provide experimental evidence that this asymmetry is due to phonetic differences in the realisation of word-final [n] in English and French, and, consequently, to the way in which English and French word-final [n] are perceived by native speakers of Japanese. Specifically, French but not English word-final [n] has a strong vocalic release that Japanese listeners perceive as their native vowel [ɯ]. We propose a psycholinguistic model in which most loanword adaptations originate in perceptual assimilation, a process which takes place during perception and which maps non-native sounds and sound structures onto the phonetically closest native ones. We compare our model to alternatives couched within phonological theory.

Assessing Signal-Driven Mechanisms in Neonates: Brain Responses to Temporally and Spectrally Different Sounds

Abstract: Past studies have found that in adults that acoustic properties of sound signals (such as fast vs. slow temporal features) differentially activate the left and right hemispheres, and some have hypothesized that left-lateralization for speech processing may follow from left-lateralization to rapidly changing signals. Here, we tested whether newborns’ brains show some evidence of signal-specific lateralization responses using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and auditory stimuli that elicits lateralized responses in adults, composed of segments that vary in duration and spectral diversity. We found significantly greater bilateral responses of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) in the temporal areas for stimuli with a minimum segment duration of 21 ms, than stimuli with a minimum segment duration of 667 ms. However, we found no evidence for hemispheric asymmetries dependent on the stimulus characteristics. We hypothesize that acoustic-based functional brain asymmetries may develop throughout early infancy, and discuss their possible relationship with brain asymmetries for language.

Category Preservation and Proximity versus Phonetic Approximation in Loanword Adaptation

Abstract: In this article, we argue that loanword adaptation is overwhelmingly phonological and that phonetic approximation plays a limited role in the sound changes that loanwords undergo. Explicit criteria are used to compare the predictions of the phonetic approximation and phonological stances against 12 large corpora of recent English and French loanwords in several different languages. We show that category proximity is overwhelmingly preferred over perceptual proximity and that typical L2perception/interpretation errors are not reflected in the adaptations of the loanwords of this database. Borrowers accurately identify L2sound categories, operating on the mental representation of an L2 sound, not directly on its surface phonetic form.

The Sounds of French: An Introduction

Abstract: Preface Special note to English speaking students learning French Organization of the book The language of reference Acknowledgments Part I. Introductory Concepts: 1. Orthography, pronunciation, and phonetic notation 2. Basic notations of phonetics Part II. Vowels and Glides: 3. Vowel systems 4. Distribution of vowels 5. Nasal vowels 6. E 7. Glides Part III. Consonants: 8. Consonantal systems 9. L and R 10. Double consonants and final consonants 11. Liaison Part IV. Suprasegmentals: 12. Stress and intonation Part V. Appendices Bibliography.

On the perceptual origin of loanword adaptations: experimental evidence from

Abstract: Japanese shows an asymmetry in the treatment of word-final [n] in loanwords from English and French: while it is adapted as a moraic nasal consonant in loanwords from English, it is adapted with a following epenthetic vowel in loanwords from French. We provide experimental evidence that this asymmetry is due to phonetic differences in the realisation of word-final [n] in English and French, and, consequently, to the way in which English and French word-final [n] are perceived by native speakers of Japanese. Specifically, French but not English word-final [n] has a strong vocalic release that Japanese listeners perceive as their native vowel [ɯ]. We propose a psycholinguistic model in which most loanword adaptations originate in perceptual assimilation, a process which takes place during perception and which maps non-native sounds and sound structures onto the phonetically closest native ones. We compare our model to alternatives couched within phonological theory.

Questioning the questions that have been asked about the infant brain using near-infrared spectroscopy.

Abstract: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a noninvasive diffuse optical-imaging technique that can measure local metabolic demand in the surface of the cortex due to differential absorption of light by oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Over the past decade, NIRS has become increasingly used as a complement to other neuroimaging techniques, such as electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), particularly in paediatric populations who cannot easily be tested using fMRI and MEG. In this review of empirical findings from human infants, ranging in age from birth to 12 months of age, a number of interpretive concerns are raised about what can be concluded from NIRS data. In addition, inconsistencies across studies are highlighted, and strategies are proposed for enhancing the reliability of NIRS data gathered from infants. Finally, a variety of new and promising advances in NIRS techniques are highlighted.

Listeners’ knowledge of phonological universals: Evidence from nasal clusters

Abstract: Optimality Theory explains typological markedness implications by proposing that all speakers possess universal constraints penalizing marked structure, irrespective of the evidence provided by their language (Prince & Smolensky, 1993/2004). An account of phonological perception sketched here entails that markedness constraints reveal their presence by inducing perceptual 'repairs' to structures ungrammatical in the hearer's language. As onset clusters of falling sonority are typologically marked relative to those of rising sonority (Greenberg, 1978), we examine English speakers' perception of nasal-initial clusters-lacking in English. We find greater accuracy for rising-sonority clusters, evidencing knowledge of markedness constraints favoring such onset clusters. The misperception of sonority falls cannot be accounted for by stimulus artifacts (the materials are perceived accurately by speakers of Russian-a language allowing nasal-initial clusters) nor by phonetic failure (English speakers misperceive falls even with printed materials) nor by putative relations of such onsets to the statistics of the English lexicon.