About

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh, currently working on an ESRC-funded project titled “Language learning, communication and the emergence of phonotactic constraints.” The PIs on this project are Profs. Mits Ota and Kenny Smith. Prior to starting this position I earned my PhD in Linguistics and English Language at the Centre for Language Evolution (CLE) at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Profs. Jennifer Culbertson and Simon Kirby.

Research summary

My postdoctoral research examines how pressures involved in situations of language learning and communication can give rise to typological patterns in phonology, such as the phonotactic tendency for similar place avoidance in co-occurring consonants. I use experimental tools to examine how language learning in both adult and child populations are influenced by place co-occurrence, as well as how these patterns are shaped over time as a result of repeated communication and learning situations. My PhD work also examined how pressures in learning can give rise to typological tendencies, but focusing instead on word order phenomena in the noun phrase and how observed learning pressures interact and compete with pressures involved during innovation of new linguistic structures. Previously I have also conducted research on language development/acquisition, focusing mainly on phonological segmentation in relation to syllable patterns in infant directed speech (with the team at ELfLanD) as well as meta-science investigations of methodological practices in experimental work on language acquisition and language development (with Bran Papineau).

Publication Spotlight

ICD 2023

Examining the female‑talker default in experimental language acquisition research.

Authors: Holtz, A. & Papineau, B

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Glossa 2020

Experimental evidence for the influence of structure and meaning on linear order in the noun phrase.

Authors: Martin, A., Holtz, A., Abels, K., Adger, D., & Culbertson, J.

To article