This panel comprises a collection of 6 contributions and 2 general discussions. Our talks focus on the specific relationship between music and language. The first 3 papers report new findings in textsetting. These talks collectively argue that musical settings actively shape and expose hidden linguistic structures. The analysis of right-headed constituents in Italian pop songs (Talk 1) challenges the traditional trochaic model by showing how iambic patterns emerge under musical prominence. Similarly, the study of sixteenth-century madrigals (Talk 2) demonstrates how the demands of tautosyllabic vowels constrain musical choices. Finally, the analysis of headless triplets in music (Talk 3) shows how catalexis (Jakobs, 1994) aligns with and confirms the presence of ternary feet. A round table will follow inviting contributions on textsetting issues.

The second part of this panel turns to pitch and tonal organisation. The tonal analysis of Zulu (Talk 4) reveals that pitch transitions in speech domains often follow harmonic intervals familiar in music, an observation that destabilises claims about the lack of systematic pitch in language. Talk 5 examines how formal operations from language games can model pitch-based transformations in jazz and post-tonal music, suggesting a common structural vocabulary. Finally, Talk 6 offers a developmental perspective of music acquisition and language processing, showing how early perceptual sensitivity to pitch and musical intervals evolves through critical periods, and how exposure to musical culture influences the ability to process and categorise pitch-based patterns. A round table will follow inviting contributions on music/language general issues.

Date: 03-Sep-2025
Location: Ipswich, United Kingdom
Contact: Davide Di Prete
Contact Email: [email protected]
Meeting URL: https://easychair.org/smart-program/LAGB2025/2025-09-03.html#session:97434

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Phonology
Subject Language(s): English (eng), Italian (ita), Zulu (zul)

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
Phonology

Subject Language(s): English (eng)
Italian (ita)
Zulu (zul)