I work on phonology (the sound systems of language) and on the acquisition of
phonology. My current research focuses on the use of weighted constraints for the
modeling of phonology and its learning, and is supported by a grant from the National
Science Foundation jointly held with John McCarthy.
I’m Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Linguistics at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst. With Lisa Sanders, I co-direct the recently founded
Institute for Computational and Experimental Study of Language, which brings together
faculty and students from 5 UMass departments.
