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Michaela Watkins

@michaelaw

PhD candidate in linguistics (phonetics / phonology) at the University of Amsterdam Looking at Seoul Korean, voice quality analysis, symbolic neural networks. πŸ‡³πŸ‡± πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§

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21.12.2023
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Latest posts by Michaela Watkins @michaelaw

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Saw these little guys in Paris, big fan. (Japan, Edo period)

23.02.2026 16:46 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

OK who are these spicy reviewers for labphon and is it appropriate to ask why they think it's ok to dismiss an abstract as "unprofessional" and "careless" just for using "etc."? Uhhh well I won't be seeing anyone in Montreal... #linguistics

20.02.2026 20:56 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Joining the rejected club, I got the gem in "As linguist i am not the grammar police" - (maybe it's supposed to be "as a linguist"? πŸ‘€) - for the use of "etc" 😊 and also that phonetics is not phonology so it doesn't belong (?)

20.02.2026 20:54 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Not too many problems in my previous study conducted (November), only one seemed to be somewhat odd but the rest matched expectations and performed similarly to in-person participants.

19.02.2026 15:49 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Department is hosting an African Linguistics Workshop featuring new research from staff and students. Special guest Prof Enoch Aboh (Uni of Amsterdam) joins the session following his Robert Le Page Lecture. 13 March at 09:30 in AEW/106.

Read the programme: www.york.ac.uk/langu...

11.02.2026 11:00 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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I still think about this tweet every now and then, reminds me of growing up in rural east Anglia 🫠 #linguistics

14.01.2026 07:58 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Resorting to LinkedIn to find participants, times are tough #linguistics

14.08.2025 07:13 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Anyone here going to Interspeech and wants to do a student a big favor? He was accepted & paid, but ultimately cannot leave the U.S. due to ongoing fascism (he’s on a visa). They will pull his paper if he can’t find anyone to present it for him. DM if you’re attending & may be able to help!

03.08.2025 18:10 πŸ‘ 49 πŸ” 49 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2

Our findings show a way of using a simple ratio to gather language specific information. It shows that creaky tokens and pitch jumps can be useful and not errors, at least if you're measuring glottal pulses. Come speak to me in Rotterdam to learn more! 😊
/End

27.05.2025 14:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

...This was especially fun because the two datasets are really different, with one being conversational and the other structured. We didn't do much filtering or adjustment of the data, so with even more controlled datasets we expect even better results.

27.05.2025 14:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

...F0 Ratio was shown to be useful in language specific situations, with non-stΓΈd being identified from stΓΈd tokens successfully due to a rising intonation contour. Korean showed that female speakers consistently shift from creaky to modal voice, captured well by the ratio...

27.05.2025 14:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Together with @rpuggaardrode.bsky.social , Paul Boersma and Silke Haman, we looked at two languages with interesting creaky voice qualities...

27.05.2025 14:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Our paper "Robustness of F0 Ratio as a Diagnostic: Comparing Creaky Voice in Danish and Seoul Korean" has been accepted into Interspeech 2025 #langsky #linguistics

27.05.2025 14:22 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I always forget how crazy Amsterdam is during tourist season 😭 the small suitcase army

02.05.2025 10:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The interactive kid's dancepad in Utrecht Centraal is playing lacrimosa, and you bet the kids are going wild dancing to it

23.04.2025 11:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Dutch universities go on strike - for the first time since anyone can remember. We protest the treatment and budget cuts of our extreme-right government. The strikers take turns - and Leiden university kicks off tomorrow. ✊🏼

09.03.2025 12:42 πŸ‘ 756 πŸ” 294 πŸ’¬ 15 πŸ“Œ 23
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Local scientists are pushing back against Trump's federal funding cuts Stand Up for Science rallies will sweep major cities all across the country today, including in San Francisco's Civic Center.

β€œIf we lose all of our funding, our academic support staff β€” who are disproportionately women and people of color β€” lose their jobs,” said Nicole Holliday, a UC Berkeley linguistics professor who will speak at the rally. β€œSo do our janitors.” #StandUpforScience2025

sfstandard.com/2025/03/07/b...

07.03.2025 14:44 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Ugh I'd love to go but it's sooo expensive and our travel grants don't even cover half 😭

07.03.2025 16:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

If you even feel like Python is difficult I encourage you to spend a day just doing Praat scripting, Python will be a dream afterwards... #linguistics

10.01.2025 10:59 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Door of a subway seen from the inside closing automatically with a flashing red light

Door of a subway seen from the inside closing automatically with a flashing red light

Universities all over Europe are cutting language programs and closing the doors to the world. We want to get a more complete picture: where, when, why?
If you know of any such cases, please tell us (and share the link with your language and linguistics contacts)!
elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/13...

13.12.2024 14:35 πŸ‘ 272 πŸ” 217 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 19

Almost 20 showed up, a miracle haha

23.11.2024 19:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

9am phonology class on a Friday, with snow and ice everywhere. I think out of a class of 30 I'll get...12. 🫠 and that's optimistic

22.11.2024 06:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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πŸ›‘ the cutbacks on research and higher education. Powerful full page ad in national papers and online, signed by 511 members πŸ™‹ of the (young) Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences.

β€œGovernment, don’t ruin what makes our country successful”

14.11.2024 10:16 πŸ‘ 40 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2

This afternoon, I learnt that our demonstration, planned for tomorrow, was cancelled. We had expected at least 5000 students, teachers and scholars to protest against the budget cuts. It's an absolute clusterfuck, and I have many questions.

Here's what I shared with our local group::

13.11.2024 16:44 πŸ‘ 71 πŸ” 32 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 5

The Dutch government has planned severely destructive budget cuts to higher education and research funding.

Please protest with us!

Consider signing this petition to show support from abroad: www.change.org/p/stop-cuts-...

29.10.2024 17:11 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 3

Dear colleagues around the world,

As you may know, the Netherlands has, since this summer, been governed by a radical right-wing administration with an agenda reminiscent of OrbΓ‘n's Hungary.

26.10.2024 20:10 πŸ‘ 422 πŸ” 281 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 50

Ja is echt niet te geloven πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ

25.10.2024 11:36 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Ministerie bezuinigt op subsidies voor cultuur, onderzoek en gymnastiekles Minister Bruins en staatssecretaris Paul noemen sommige ingrepen "pijnlijk".

Even more budget cuts... NWO is especially targeted here 🫠 the future of #linguistics departments here is in serious trouble. #langsky

24.10.2024 16:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump files extraordinary complaint claiming election meddling by UK Labour party Allegation references LinkedIn post saying 100 party staffers were headed to US to campaign for Harris

The UK doesn't have the money to fund their own elections, let alone someone else's πŸ‘€

23.10.2024 05:44 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

So sad about what is happening at Leiden University, a whole heap of unique programs just gone... Not to mention this is before the cuts even really kick in πŸ‘€ #langsky #linguistics

19.10.2024 20:12 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0