This week, we play-tested a fun and challenging linguistics card game.

We also explored the the merger of two vowels before/l/ and created a (hopefully exhaustive) list of minimal pairs to incorporate into a new reading to see if speakers can produce or perceive a difference. The four members of our lab come from various regions, and we found that one member from the Pacific Northwest has a near-complete merger of these two vowels before /l/, whereas another member from the Midwest does not have a merger at all.

We attempted to revise one of our reading passages but ultimately decided that it will serve its purpose in its current form.

We scheduled appointments with prospective participants for next week and got the lab ready for recording sessions!