Speech and sun: new research on climate and how we speak
August 31, 2023 - Savannah Peat
Whether it’s another language, how you pronounce pecan, or using the word ‘y’all’ instead of ‘you guys’, where you live has an impact on how you speak.
That’s a cause and effect we’ve only scratched the surface of, according to new research from Department of Linguistics Adjunct Research Professor Ian Maddieson and College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences (CULLS) Director of Research Data Services Karl Benedict.
“One of the major focuses so far has been in developing a framework. I almost think of it as building our laboratory where we've now stocked the shelves with the environmental and linguistic data to now start performing our experiments,” Benedict said.
The pair of dedicated UNM researchers just published Demonstrating environmental impacts on the sound structure of languages: challenges and solutions in Frontiers in Psychology.
While Maddieson had always been intrigued by sound systems and the environment, he was missing his other half in the data gathering side of things.
“I needed a collaborator to work on finding out where to obtain the data on the climatic and ecological variables that I wanted to pair with the linguistic data,” Maddieson said. “I thought I would go to the Centennial Library and I was directed to go and see Karl, who was extremely gracious and enthusiastic.”
Given Benedict’s long term, large-scale work with environmental datasets, and Maddieson’s prestigious history as a linguist, their immense interest matched the immense size of the project they took on.
Read more in the UNM Newsroom
