Phonetics is about speech communication, that is, how humans create and perceive sounds, speech, and conversation. Stockholm University’s experimental phonetics research is carried out at the Phonetics Laboratory.

Speech communication is the main area of ​​interest in phonetics and phonetics researchers examine various aspects of the production and perception of language sounds, speech, and conversation. Stockholm University’s research in phonetics is characterized by experimental studies of speech communication spanning over the three typical areas of phonetics research:

• Articulatory Phonetics, covering the anatomic and physiologic aspects behind the airstream mechanisms that can be used to create sound sources along the vocal tract and the articulatory activities of the tongue, jaw, lips, and nasal cavities.
• Acoustic Phonetics, addressing the acoustic characteristics of the sound sources and the resonance phenomena created by the different articulatory configurations of the vocal tract.
• Perceptual Phonetics, studying how speech sounds (which differ from speaker to speaker and are affected by room acoustics, background noise, etc.) are represented by the auditory system and perceived by the listener.

Due to its strong experimental component, Stockholm University classifies phonetics as a natural science within the humanities. Our high-profile and multidisciplinary experimental research is carried out at the Phonetics Laboratory.

Phonetics Laboratory