Jeremy Coburn presented at the Isolated Languages Workshop held at Ghent University in Belgium
Jeremy Coburn presented on "Phonotactic organization and prosodic structure in Hadza: Word length and click distribution in a language isolate" at the Isolated Languages Workshop held at Ghent University in Belgium on March 18-19, 2026.
The research examines the phonotactic and prosodic organization of Hadza, focusing on consonant distribution, root structure, and word-length preferences in comparison with other (unrelated) languages spoken in the Tanzanian Rift Valley. The findings suggest that Hadza’s phonotactic system—particularly its flexible distribution of clicks and prosodically constrained word shapes—reflects an internally stable and historically independent sound system, rather than one shaped by contact. This study thus contributes to our understanding of how phonological systems in isolate languages can evolve distinctive prosodic grammars, and how such systems challenge typological generalizations based on larger language families.