Silke Hamann

Dr. Silke Hamann is a researcher at the University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Linguistics. Her work bridges phonology and phonetics, focusing on the emergence of phonological features, perceptual cues in segmental contrasts, and the interaction of phonology with orthography and language acquisition.

• Current projects: diachronic loanword adaptation, congenital amusia's impact on speech perception, Bantu languages (with Nancy Kula and Laura Downing), Catalan studies (with Francesc Torres-Tamarit)

Research interests span synchronic/diachronic phonology, phonetic perception, computational modeling of phonological acquisition, and cross-linguistic analysis of retroflex consonants. Her publications analyze phenomena in Korean, Japanese, Bantu languages, German, Portuguese, and Slavic languages, with recurring themes of cue weighting, phonological constraints, and orthographic influence.

Recent articles highlight her focus on creaky voice diagnostics, loanword phonotactics, congenital amusia, and Bantu intonation systems. Collaborations with Nancy Kula (Bantu) and Francesc Torres-Tamarit (Catalan) underscore her international research network.