Dr Sam Kirkham

Senior Lecturer

Research Overview

My research investigates the dynamics of spoken language, such as how people coordinate movements of the tongue, lips and larynx to produce speech. I do experiments that monitor vocal tract movements using sensors and imaging technology, and build computational models of the cognitive and physical mechanisms that underpin spoken language. I apply these insights to a range of longstanding scientific puzzles, including the mysteries of language change, why humans sound different from one another, and how to improve the use of speech technologies in everyday life. In doing so, I draw upon theory and methods from linguistics, cognitive science, physics, and computer science. The common thread in my work is a view of living (and artificial) systems as complex systems.

I am currently working on the following projects:

  • Interpretable acoustic-articulatory relations in speech production (Royal Society, 2025-27)
  • Modelling the dynamics of phonetic variation & phonological change (AHRC fellowship, 2024-25)
  • TARDIS: Targets and dynamics in speech (AHRC, 2019-23)

Modelling the dynamics of phonetic variation and phonological change
01/04/2024 → 30/09/2025
Research

Lancashire Tongues
01/10/2022 → …
Research

Targets and Dynamics in Speech - TARDIS
01/09/2019 → 31/08/2022
Research

Intonational variation in North West England
01/07/2014 → 30/04/2016
Other

Ultrasound tongue imaging of language contact varieties
01/06/2014 → 31/12/2018
Other

AHRC: Ethnicity, social practice and phonetic variation
01/10/2009 → 30/09/2012
Research

Language Lab
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition

Evolving accents: Unravelling the mysteries of sound change
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar

Lancashire Tongues - Burnley
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition

Visible Voices
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition

Lancashire Tongues - Blackburn
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition

  • Phonetics Lab