Bert Vaux teaches phonology

Phonology

Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...

 and morphology

Morphology (linguistics)

In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...

 at the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. Previously, he taught for nine years at Harvard and three years at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Vaux specializes in phonological theory, dialectology, field methodology, and languages of the Caucasus. Vaux was Editor of the journal Annual of Armenian

Armenian language

The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

 Linguistics from 2001 to 2006 and is co-editor of the book series Oxford Surveys in Generative Phonology.

Professional history

• Reader in Linguistics, University of Cambridge, 2010-
• University Lecturer in Phonology and Morphology, University of Cambridge, 2006-2010
• Professor of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 2003-2006
• Asst. and Assoc. Professor of Linguistics, Harvard University, 1994-2003
• PhD, Harvard University, 1994

Vaux's Law (as labelled by Averi & Idsardi 2001, Iverson & Salmons 2003), which he first formulated in a 1998 article in Linguistic Inquiry, states that laryngeally

Larynx

The larynx , commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the neck of amphibians, reptiles and mammals involved in breathing, sound production, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. It manipulates pitch and volume...

 unspecified--i.e. voiceless

Voiceless

In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...

--fricatives

Fricative consonant

Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...

 become [GW]/[sg] in systems contrasting fricatives without reference to [GW]/[sg]; thus they are to be aspirated

Aspiration (phonetics)

In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...

 or, more technically, to be pronounced with a spread glottis

Glottis

The glottis is defined as the combination of the vocal folds and the space in between the folds .-Function:...

.

Selected publications

• "The Phonology of Armenian", Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0198236610
• "Introduction to Linguistic Field Methods", Munich: Lincom Europa, 1999. ISBN 978-3895861987
• "Rules, Constraints, and Phonological Phenomena", Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. (ed. with Andrew Nevins) ISBN 978-0-19-922651-1
• "Linguistic Field Methods", Wipf & Stock Publishers (January 2007) ISBN 978-1597527644
• "Laryngeal markedness and aspiration" (with Bridget Samuels), Phonology
  Phonology (journal)
  Phonology is a British peer-reviewed journal of phonology published by Cambridge University Press, the only journal devoted exclusively to this...
  
   22:395-436, 2005.
• "Syllabification in Armenian, Universal Grammar, and the lexicon," Linguistic Inquiry 34.1, 2003.
• "Feature spreading and the representation of place of articulation," Linguistic Inquiry 31, 2000.
• "The laryngeal specifications of fricatives," Linguistic Inquiry 29.3, 1998.
• "The status of ATR in feature geometry," Linguistic Inquiry 27, 1996.
• "Eastern Armenian: A Textbook", Caravan Books, 2003. ISBN 978-0882060958

Publications mentioning Vaux's Law

• "Distinctive Feature Theory" by T. Alan Hall, Walter de Gruyter, 2001, ISBN 3110170337
• "Affricates and the phonetic implementation of laryngeal contrast in Italian", Martin Kraemer, University of Ulster, February 2004
• "An exception to final devoicing" by Marc van Oostendorp, Meertens Instituut/KNAW

Notable press

Vaux is frequently consulted by the press for linguistic articles. For example, in 2004 he discussed product names that contain place names, such as Coney Island hot dogs. In 2005 he was interviewed in USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

 regarding the differences in regions of the United States about whether to call carbonated soft drinks "soda", or "pop", or "coke". In 2002-2003 his survey to create a linguistics map for the United States was mentioned in the press. In 2005 the San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle

thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...

 mentioned his research about how musician vocabulary affects vocabulary at large.

External links

• www.mml.cam.ac.uk/ling/staff/bv230/: Bert Vaux's homepage
• hairenik.com: Interview with Bert Vaux (archived 2005)