UETA, Naoki
Assistant Professor
Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa,
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
3-11-1 Asahi-cho, Fuchu-shi,
Tokyo, 183-8534, Japan
Email: ueta_naoki[at]aa.tufs.ac.jp
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Research interests: linguistics, phonetics and phonology, Mongolian
My research on sounds in East Asian languages, especially Mongolian
My research on the phonology of East Asian languages, especially Mongolian, is based on phonetic experiments and acoustic analyses.
Phonetics are used in all languages except sign languages. However, phonetic characteristics and phonological systems differ among them. For example, although both Mongolian and Japanese feature the sounds /t/ and /d/, their characteristics are different between the two languages. Thus, we can ask ourselves what kind of sounds are used and what characteristics each sound has in Mongolian. How are these sounds produced and perceived by native speakers? If these characteristics differ from those in another language, how can we describe the difference? Furthermore, what are the universal features among human languages, and how are they expressed theoretically? I address these themes through production experiments, perceptual experiments, and acoustic analyses. I attempt to clarify the sound structures of human languages by analyzing Mongolian and various other East Asian languages.
Recent Interests:
Previously, my research mainly focused on the characteristics of a single language, whereas lately, I have been focusing on phonetic features in language contact such as second language acquisition. In addition, I will observe the variety of information that some phonetic features carry, such as pitch, which can convey sociolinguistic information and express the speaker’s emotion. I will also attempt to investigate to what extent these functions are common and what differences are observed among languages and dialects.
Research Projects:
- ILCAA Joint Research Project “Synchrony and Diachrony of Mongolic Languages: Internal and External Factors (jrp000239)”
- ILCAA Joint Research Project “Phonetic typology from cross-linguistic perspectives (jrp000269)”
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