Research on language and speech is an exciting area encompassing
research in the fields of language technologies and human-computer
interfaces in a way which can be employed to various ends ranging from
language learning of intelligent systems to the learning capabilities of
humans. To fulfill these ends we would like to start a modern academic
research lab which is focused on the way speech is produced and
comprehended. The lab will be involved with experimental investigations
of speech processes and their acquisition. Topics include: articulatory
movements, measurements of pressures and airflows in speech production,
computer-aided waveform analysis and spectral analysis of speech,
perception and discrimination of speechlike sounds, speech prosody,
models for speech recognition, speech disorders, and language
acquisition.
This laboratory will also play an important role in recording and
archiving the languages of the North-East. Apart from that, the
facilities in this laboratory will also promote advanced research on
languages of the region.
The Phonetics and Phonology Lab at IIT Guwahati is devoted to research in
the speech and language sciences. It consists of Shakuntala Mahanta and Priyankoo Sarmah
as group leaders.
Even though the research conducted in this lab is broadly concerned with
all aspects of phonetics and phonology, the group members have been
particularly active on working on the languages of North East India.
As a result of their efforts and also as a result of the project Digital Preservation, Analysis and Technology Development of the Languages of North-east
the North East India Linguistic Database is being developed.