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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Phonetics: Six Chinese Dialects: PhD Student, Leiden University, Netherlands

Institution/Organization: Leiden University
Department: LUCL
Web Address: http://www.lucl.leidenuniv.nl

Level: PhD

Duties: Research

Specialty Areas: Phonetics


Description:

Within the VIDI project "An experimental approach to the interaction of tone sandhi and focus expression in six dialects of Chinese," we are looking for

One PhD candidate with expertise in Chinese linguistics.

Project Description:
The way sentences are pronounced signals listeners how they should relate information in the sentence to the preceding discourse, a phenomenon known as 'focus' or 'information structure.' As in many languages, expression of focus in English is determined by how constituents are grouped into domains and how pitch accents are realized within domains.

For instance, if 'She teaches in China' is an answer to the question 'What does she do ?,' pitch accents give prominence to both teaches and China, but if the same question is answered 'She teaches linguistics,' only linguistics is accented, though teaches is also focused as part of the answer. The difference here is due to verbs and objects forming different phrasal constructions from verbs and prepositions.

Language differ in the way phrasing and prominence interact to signal focus. Chinese dialects present a challenging and revealing research area for this interaction. These dialects use pitch changes (tone) to indicate word meanings in isolation, but tonal realization of words in phrases is determined by domain formation (i.e. phrasing effect) within the domain, together known as tone sandhi. Crucially, focus effects tone sandhi.

Thus far, studies on tone sandhi, however, rarely consider the effect of different focus conditions. Work on focus realization has also been limited to simple morpho-syntactic constituents in few dialects. I propose a systematic experimental approach to examining the interaction of these two hitherto independent lines of research (tone sandhi and focus realization) in six dialects of Chinese, which lie on a continuum between dialects with dense tonal distributions and sparser distributions. In so doing, I hope to contribute to the understanding of the phonetics and phonology of tone sandhi, and to a cross-linguistic theory of focus realization, which has largely been based on European and African languages.

Tasks:
- Reporting the results in international journals and a dissertation;

For more details, please contact dr. Yiya Chen.

For more details of the project please consult:
http://www.lucl.leidenuniv.nl/index.php3?m=4&c=590

Requirements:
- a solid background in linguistics, psycholinguistics, or other relevant fields, preferably with training in acoustic phonetics and/or syntax-phonology interface;
- a sound knowledge of and a demonstrable interest in Chinese and Chinese dialects;
- a strong commitment to working on both empirical corpus data and theoretical analyses.

Conditions of employment:
The successful applicant will be appointed at LUCL for one year and after a positive evaluation, followed by a fixed-term period of three years.

Gross salary will be ? 2000,- per month in the first year, gradually rising, also depending upon evaluation, to ? 2612,- per month in the final year conform the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities.

Applications:
Please send your letter (in Dutch or English) within two weeks after the publication of these vacancy, including a cover letter, a CV, sample academic writings ( such as a copy of BA, MA, or M.Phil thesis, and/or published articles if available), and two letters of recommendation. Send the letter, indicating the vacancy number on letter and envelope to:

Afdeling P&O, t.a.v. E.M. Bakker
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands

Application Deadline: 15-May-2008

Mailing Address for Applications:
Attn: Ms E.M. Bakker
Faculteit der Letteren
Postbus 9515
Leiden 2300 RA
Netherlands

Contact Information:
Dr. Yiya Chen
yiya.chen@let.leidenuniv.nl
(+31) (0)71-5271688

The way to AMINEF in Gedung Balai Pustaka

American Indonesian Exchange Foundation
Balai Pustaka Building, 6th. Floor
Jl. Gunung Sahari Raya No. 4
Jakarta 10720, Indonesia

1. The buses which goes to Senen Bus Station all of them pass through Gedung Balai Pustaka. Especially which route is through Pasar Baru .

2. Bus Transjakarta, from Blok M you have to change the bus 2-3 times.
Way 1 : from Blok M change the bus in Dukuh Atas bus stop to the bus towards Pulogadung, then take a bus in Pramuka bus stop towards Ancol, this bus pass through Gedung Balai Pustaka. The closest bus stop (Budi Utomo) is about 800 meters from Gedung Balai .
Way 2 : From Blok M take the bus in the Harmoni Bus Stop, the bus towards Pulogadung, get down in Senen Bus Stop and walk about 800 meters, or from this bus stop take the bus towards Ancol and get down as mentioned in way 1. About the distance, this two bus stops is about the same. (It is better if you take ojek or bajaj from this bus stop to Gedung Balai Pustaka)

3. If you take taxi with old tariff (TL=Tarif Lama) from blok M with no traffic jam is about Rp. 30.000,00.

4. From Blok M use bus Patas AC 76. Gedung Balai Pustaka is in the right side, after you pass through Depag, and say to conductor "Balai Pustaka"

5. Use a busway from Blok M towards Kota, get down in Sawah Besar bus stop. From here take a Mikrolet M12 towards Senen. After cross road Wahidin and before senen get down and cross the street.

Living Cost in Germany

Living Cost in Germany is vary from city to city, but this is th case if you stay in Aachen, Germany
Student accommodation or private sharing : 180 - 230 euros per month
Food : 10 - 12 euros per day (if eating outside)
Transport for students : free within Aachen and until Koln and Dusseldorf in regional trains)

Living Cost In Austria

Living Cost in Austria is depending on the city, for example the Capital of Austria, Vienna:
- Dormitory is about 250-400 euro per month.
- Living Cost 200-400 euro per month.
- Transportation 128 euro per 4 months (student and age < 26), or 49 euro per month (ordinary)

For visa, it has to be a letter from the University/Scholl in Austria. It takes about 2-3 months.

Where to do GMAT Test

GMAT Tests are held in Jakarta, Indonesia :
1. EEC Slipi +62-21 5320044 or +62-215323176
2. Kaplan GMAT Preparation +62-81388908450, +62-21 5211588, +62-215211701 (Information abaout this test can be asked in that number)
3. Or this number +62-213159225

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