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Patricia Keating Distinguished Lecture Series
Inaugural Patricia Keating Distinguished Lecture
Featuring Dr. Marija Tabain
Date: Monday, October 27, 2025
Time: 4:00 PM (Lecture, with reception to follow)
Location: Hershey Hall Salon, Room 158
801 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Please RSVP by Friday, October 17: RSVP Form
The Patricia Keating Distinguished Lecture Series is generously supported by Dr. Henry Biggs.
Title: Some (phonetic) reflections on working with Australian languages Abstract:In this talk I will present a “potted history” of my work with Australian Aboriginal languages. I will discuss my experiences of working with some of the languages of Central Australia – mostly Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara and Warlpiri (which are still being learned by children today), as well as the northern languages Yanyuwa and Yindjibarndi (which are more critically endangered following colonization). In phonetic terms, the indigenous languages of Australia are best-known for their extensive coronal contrasts, having up to four places of articulation (dental, alveolar, retroflex and alveo-palatal) within the stop, nasal and lateral series. This is often accompanied by a minimal vowel inventory. I will discuss how acoustic and articulatory investigation of speech in these languages (based on both legacy recordings, and on fieldwork in remote desert locations) has helped us better understand the constraints placed on the speech production mechanism by the consonant and vowel inventories of a language. Dr. Marija Tabain completed her Bachelor degrees in Music (pianoforte performance) and Arts (linguistics with modern languages) at the University of Melbourne. She completed her PhD in phonetics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, with postdoctoral training in cognitive science at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and in electrical engineering at the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble in France. Her research is in articulatory and acoustic phonetics, and her work has focused on many different languages from all continents of the world, including the European languages English, French, Russian and Croatian; and the Australian languages Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Yanyuwa and Yindjibarndi. She is currently Editor of the Journal of the International Phonetic Association. Download full parking details here: Directions to Hershey Hall and P2 Visitor Parking (Structure 2) Address: 602 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90095 The closest Parking Structure to Hershey Hall is Structure 2 on the corner of Hilgard Avenue and Westholme Avenue. Self-Service Pay Stations: Visitors may self-park in Structure 2, using the Self-Service Pay-by-Space stations. ParkMobile App (Pay-by-Phone): As an alternative to the Self-Service Pay-by-Space stations, visitors can purchase parking via a phone app. Additional fees apply. UCLA Employees with Yellow or Blue Parking Permits Guests requiring Disability/Handicap Parking Hershey Hall is located directly behind the Terasaki Life Sciences Building.About the Lecture
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