Hearing hidden meter: How syntax shapes the perception of metrical rhythm – Hilton (IGEL 2023)
Channel: IGEL Conference Videos
Date: 2023-09-07

When we perceive the metrical structure of speech, we are doing more than just passively listening to the timing and stress patterns found in the acoustic signal. As fluent speakers, we also apply our linguistic knowledge to actively predict likely metrical patterns based on specific syntactic or lexical forms. This top-down knowledge based on our linguistic competence combines with the bottom-up acoustical cues to form robust perceptions that align with our goal of understanding the linguistic messages being conveyed. In this talk, I discuss two studies [1, 2] that support this view of online metrical perception. I then discuss the implications of this view for the theoretical relation between speech rhythm and musical rhythm generally, and end with more specific reflections on a notion of ‘metrical syncopation’ in poetry and song.

References
1.Hilton, C. B., & Goldwater, M. B. (2021). Linguistic syncopation: Meter-syntax alignment affects sentence comprehension and sensorimotor synchronization. Cognition, 217, 104880. Redirecting

2.Hilton, C.B., Moser, C.J., Bertolo, M. et al. (2022). Acoustic regularities in infant-directed speech and song across cultures. Nat Hum Behav 6, 1545–1556. Acoustic regularities in infant-directed speech and song across cultures | Nature Human Behaviour