Bert Vaux

Infobox Scientist
name = Bert Vaux

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image_width = 150px
birth_date = Birth date and age|1968|11|19
birth_place = Houston, Texas
residence = Cambridgeshire, England, UK
field = Linguistics
work_institution = Harvard University
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
University of Cambridge
alma_mater = University of Chicago
Harvard University
known_for = Vaux's Law

Bert Vaux (born November 19 1968, Houston, Texas) teaches phonology and morphology at the University of Cambridge. Previously, he taught for nine years at Harvard. Vaux specializes in phonological theory, dialectology, field methodology, and languages of the Caucasus. Vaux was Editor of the journal Annual of Armenian Linguistics from 2001-2006 and is co-editor of the book series Oxford Surveys in Generative Phonology.

Professional history

*University Lecturer in Phonology and Morphology, University of Cambridge, 2006-
*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 unspecified--i.e. voiceless--fricatives become [GW] / [sg] in systems contrasting fricatives without reference to [GW] / [sg] ; thus they are to be aspirated or, more technically, to be pronounced with a spread glottis.Avery, Peter and William J. Idsardi (2001) "Laryngeal dimensions, completion and enhancement," in T. Alan Hall, ed., " [http://books.google.com/books?id=5_N7sRKJ7I0C&pg=PA48&dq=%22vaux%27s+law%22&ei=hgVzR_iMBobQiwGr5-Rp&sig=az4U89OCjwo4kfV9mnAhwuSRuuU Distinctive Feature Theory] ", 41-70. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter Inc.] Iverson, Gregory K. & Joseph C. Salmons (2003). "Laryngeal enhancement in early Germanic," Phonology 20, 43-74.] Krämer, Martin (2004)" [http://www.hum.uit.no/a/kraemer/dgfs04.pdf Affricates and the phonetic implementation of laryngeal contrast in Italian] ," in the 26 Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft, Mainz, February 25–27.] van Oostendorp, Marc (2007) "An Exception to Final Devoicing," in van der Torre, Erik Jan & Jeroen van de Weijer, eds., Voicing in Dutch. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.] Vaux, Bert (1998) "The Laryngeal Specifications of Fricatives," "Linguistic Inquiry" 29.3, 497-511.]

elected 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 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 [http://books.google.com/books?id=5_N7sRKJ7I0C&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22vaux's+law%22&source=web&ots=-Qon2ZIWZS&sig=grzjuLJyGD4Tp3rws573-kDsO-I]
*"Affricates and the phonetic implementation of laryngeal contrast in Italian", Martin Kraemer, University of Ulster, February 2004 [http://www.hum.uit.no/a/kraemer/dgfs04.pdf]
*"An exception to final devoicing" by Marc van Oostendorp, Meertens Instituut/KNAW [http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/656-0404/656-VAN_OOSTENDORP-0-0.PDF]

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. [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DTNB&s_site=detnews&f_site=detnews&f_sitename=Detroit+News%2C+The+%28MI%29&p_multi=DTNB&p_theme=gannett&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10311E819628E160&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Linguistics prof knows his names] The Detroit News, June 6, 2004 ] In 2005 he was interviewed in USA Today regarding the differences in regions of the United States about whether to call carbonated soft drinks "soda", or "pop", or "coke". [ [http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2002-09-12-soda-pop_x.htm Pop, soda or Coke? Internet voters seek to settle debate] AP, USA Today, 2005 ] In 2002-2003 his survey to create a linguistics map for the United States was mentioned in the press. [ [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8973497_ITM Harvard professor creating linguistics map of the United States] by James A. Fussell , The Kansas City Star, March 28, 2003] [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F82F44B8341421A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Dialects thriving, Internet survey finds] by Robert S. Boyd, Knight Ridder News Service, Philadelphia Inquirer, December 25, 2002] In 2005 the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned his research about how musician vocabulary affects vocabulary at large. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/13/LVGF2BLAOG1.DTL&type=printable LANGUAGE: A little South out West] by Leslie Guttman, The San Francisco Chronicle, March 13, 2005]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.uwm.edu/~vaux/ uwm.edu/~vaux] : Bert Vaux's homepage
* [http://www.hairenik.com/armenianweekly/september_october_2003/culture003.html hairenik.com] : Interview with Bert Vaux