Assistant Professor Department of Linguistics Ohio State University Office: Oxley Hall 24C Phone: (614) 292-8235 Fax: (614) 292-8833 clopper.1 AT osu.edu Research

Mail: Oxley Hall 222 1712 Neil Avenue Columbus OH 43210 Teaching

Recent Publications

IRB Information

Research Projects
The Nationwide Speech Project
Speech corpus containing recordings of young male and female talkers from six regions of the United States. Speech samples include isolated words, sentences, passages, and interview speech.
The Nationwide Speech Project Webpage

Perceptual Dialect Classification
Forced-choice categorization, similarity ratings, and free classification experiments examining the explicit perceptual dialect classification of unfamiliar talkers by different listener populations, including native and non-native speakers of English, and young adults with high-functioning autism.

Variation and Speech Processing
Sentence transcription, spoken word recognition, and speeded classification experiments exploring the roles of regional dialect, talker-listener dialect mismatch, and regional vowel shifts in speech intelligibility and spoken language processing.

Prosodic Variation in American English
Acoustic analysis and ToBI transcription of read passages produced by male and female talkers from six regions of the United States (with Rajka Smiljanic, University of Texas at Austin, and supported by the Ohio State University Department of Women's Studies Critical Difference for Women program).

Phonetics-Semantics Interface in Paraguayan Guarani
Acoustic and semantic analysis of stress, intonation, and focus in Paraguayan Guarani (with Judith Tonhauser, Ohio State University, and supported by the Ohio State University Office of International Affairs).

Research Opportunities for Undergraduates
Undergraduate research assistants are always welcome in Cynthia Clopper's Speech Perception Lab. Students can earn credit in Linguistics 489 (Internship in Linguistics) or 693 (Individual Studies in Linguistics) for work in the lab. Paid positions are also sometimes available. Students do not need to be linguistics majors to work in the lab. If you are interested in working on any of the projects described above, please contact Cynthia Clopper to discuss research opportunities.

Teaching
Linguistics H286, Analyzing the Sounds of Language
Linguistics 500, Introduction to Phonetics
Linguistics 600.02, Laboratory Phonology
Linguistics 795.03, Phonetics and Phonology Discussion Group (Phonies)
Linguistics 795.10, Quantitative Methods in Linguistics
Linguistics 821, Seminar in Phonology, Recent Topics: Second Language Phonetics and Phonology
Linguistics 825, Seminar in Advanced Phonetics, Recent Topics: Talker Variability, Second Language Phonetics and Phonology (Syllabus)

Recent Publications
Clopper, C. G., Pierrehumbert, J. B., & Tamati, T. N. (in press). Lexical neighborhoods and phonological confusability in cross-dialect word recognition in noise. Laboratory Phonology.

Clopper, C. G. (2009). Computational methods for normalizing acoustic vowel data for talker differences. Language and Linguistics Compass, 3, 1430-1442..

Clopper, C. G., & Bradlow, A. R. (2009). Free classification of American English dialects by native and non-native listeners. Journal of Phonetics, 37, 436-451.

Clopper, C. G. (2008). Auditory free classification: Methods and analysis. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 575-581.

Clopper, C. G., & Bradlow, A. R. (2008). Perception of dialect variation in noise: Intelligibility and classification. Language and Speech, 51, 175-198.

Clopper, C. G., & Pierrehumbert, J. B. (2008). Semantic context and the Northern Cities Chain Shift. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 124, 1682-1688.

Clopper, C. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2007). Free classification of regional dialects of American English. Journal of Phonetics, 35, 421-438.

Clopper, C. G., Levi, S. V., & Pisoni, D. B. (2006). Perceptual similarity of regional varieties of American English. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 119, 566-574.

Clopper, C. G., & Paolillo, J. C. (2006). North American English vowels: A factor analytic perspective. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 21, 445-462.

Clopper, C. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2006). Effects of region of origin and geographic mobility on perceptual dialect categorization. Language Variation and Change, 18, 193-221.

Clopper, C. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2006). The Nationwide Speech Project: A new corpus of American English dialects. Speech Communication, 48, 633-644.

Clopper, C. G., Pisoni, D. B., & Tierney, A. T. (2006). Effects of open-set and closed-set task demands on spoken word recognition. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 17, 331-349.

Clopper, C. G., Conrey, B. L., & Pisoni, D. B. (2005). Effects of talker gender on dialect categorization. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24, 182-206.

Clopper, C. G., Pisoni, D. B., & de Jong, K. (2005). Acoustic characteristics of the vowel systems of six regional varieties of American English. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 118, 1661-1676.

Clopper, C. G. (2004). Linguistic Experience and the Perceptual Classification of Dialect Variation. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University. PDF

Clopper, C. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2004). Effects of talker variability on perceptual learning of dialects. Language and Speech, 47, 207-239.

Clopper, C. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2004). Homebodies and army brats: Some effects of early linguistic experience and residential history on dialect categorization. Language Variation and Change, 16, 31-48.

Clopper, C. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2004). Some acoustic cues for the perceptual categorization of American English regional dialects. Journal of Phonetics, 32, 111-140.

Non-Academic Interests
When I'm not doing research, I enjoy traveling. My most recent travel adventures have taken me to Spain, Germany, and Paris.

I'm also a college basketball junkie. I follow Duke basketball with a passion, but I'll watch pretty much any game at the college level.