Antônio R. M. Simões

Antônio Roberto Monteiro Simões
  • Director of Graduate Studies
  • Professor
  • College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Spanish & Portuguese

Contact Info

Office Phone:
785-864-0285
Department Phone:
785-864-3851
Wescoe Hall 2638

Personal Links

Biography —

I hold a PhD in Ibero-Romance Linguistics from the prestigious University of Texas at Austin, a recognition I earned in 1987. My current academic journey began with a strong foundation in France, where I achieved a D.E.A. from the Université d’Aix-Marseille, specializing in Phonetics, between 1979 and 1984. Prior to this, in 1979, I secured my Master's degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in Luso-Brazilian Literatures with a focus on Phonology.

In the dynamic landscape of academic research, my journey took an innovative turn around 2013. I embarked on pioneering research endeavors that leveraged music representations, progressing from traditional neumes to today's modified music notation, all in pursuit of unlocking the intricacies of speech prosodies.

My pioneering work centers on the development of an innovating methodology that harnesses the full potential of music notation to dissect speech prosodies. This methodology encompasses critical prosodic elements, including intonation, pitch contours, rhythm, voice quality, and coarticulatory speech events, to name a few.

My unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of linguistic analysis has not only made significant contributions to the field but has also paved the way for transformative applications across diverse industries. I am thrilled to continue this journey of innovation, exploration, and collaboration in the ever-evolving realm of linguistics and beyond.

Education —

Ph.D. in Ibero-Romance Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin, 1987, Austin, TX

Research —

My current research delves into the world of speech prosody, focusing on its transcription and analysis using musical notation. When we talk about prosody, we're encompassing various aspects such as intonation, tone or pitch, duration, loudness, rhythm, sound quality, stress, accent, and phonological processes. My goal is to shed light on how these prosodies function within speech.
 

Theoretical Challenges

Understanding speech prosody has posed challenges, mainly due to different Schools of Thought and their varied methodological approaches. The field of prosodic studies mirrors the elusive nature of speech prosody itself. Diverse methods and a lack of standardized terminology have made it complex to navigate.

 

My Approach and Solutions

My current work aims to address these methodological challenges, particularly by creating a universally applicable empirical methodology. I use modified musical notation, not the traditional form, which has a fairly universal appeal, especially in the Western world. This notation can effectively transcribe and help us search for speech patterns. It's designed to represent both dynamic and quasi-static aspects of speech prosodies, making it accessible to a broader audience. Using musical notes for speech allows us to visualize and analyze prosodic details more comprehensibly, even in languages with complex tone systems like Chinese. My goal is to make this approach accessible to anyone interested in using musical notation for speech prosody analysis.

Research interests:

  • Phonology and Phonetics
  • Musical notation
  • Speech prosidies

Teaching —

My teaching philosophy aligns with my research approach. I integrate classroom experiences into my research and emphasize a student-centered approach, sometimes referred to as the flipped or reverse classroom. I firmly believe that anyone can learn a language or any subject when the proper steps are followed. Edgar Allan Poe's insightful statement, "Abstruseness is a quality appertaining to no subject of human consideration, per se," resonates with my teaching philosophy. I do not carry any particular cognitive banner. I keep an open mind, staying updated on teaching and research trends, and apply them sensibly in my classrooms. Student performance is my yardstick for assessing teaching effectiveness, and I highly value their efforts and progress, which I evaluate through meaningful assignments and examinations.

Teaching interests:

  • Phonology and Phonetics
  • Musical notation
  • Hispanic Linguistics
  • Second Language Acquisition
  • Spanish and Portuguese Applied Linguistics
  • Speech and language prosodies

Selected Publications —

Simões, A.R.M. Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese Pronunciation - The Mainstream Pronunciation of Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese: From Sound Segments to Speech Melodies. Singapore: Springer, Series: Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics. September 2022. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811319952  

Simões, A. R. M. Pois não. Brazilian Portuguese for Speakers of Spanish, with Basic Reference Grammar. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2008. Reviewed by Gláucia Silva, Luso-Brazilian Review 48(1):188-190 · January 2011 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236821920_Pois_Nao_Brazilian_Portuguese_Course_for_Spanish_Speakers_with_Basic_Reference_Grammar

Simões, A. R. M. Com licença! Brazilian Portuguese for Spanish speakers. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press and Institute of Latin American Studies, 1992.

Simões, Antônio R. M. "Teaching Portuguese phonological processes to non native learners,” in The Routledge Handbook of Portuguese Phonology, edited by André Zampaulo (forthcoming)

Meireles, Alexsandro & Simões, Antônio Roberto Monteiro, Antônio Celso Ribeiro, and Beatriz Raposo de Medeiros. "Musical Speech: A New Methodology for Transcribing Speech Prosody." In Interspeech, 2017, 334-338. ISSN: 1990-9772; DOI: 10.21437/Interspeech.2017 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319184971_Musical_Speech_A_New_Methodolog y_for_Transcribing_Speech_Prosody

Simões, Antônio R.M. and Alexsandro R. Meireles. "Speech Prosody in Musical Notation: Spanish, Portuguese and English." In Proceedings of the Speech Prosody Conference 8, editors Jon Barnes, Alejna Brugos, Stefanie Shattuck-Hufnagel and Nanette Veilleux Boston, Mass, Boston University, 2016, 212-216. http://www.isca-speech.org/archive/SpeechProsody_2016/abstracts/304.html ISSN: 2333-2042 DOI: 10.21437/SpeechProsody.2016

Simões, Antônio R.M. "Lexical Stress in Brazilian Portuguese in Contrast with Spanish." In Campbell, Nick, Dafydd Gibbon and Daniel Hirst, editors, Annals of the Speech Prosody Conference # 7. ISSN: 2333-2042, Dublin, Ireland, Trinity College, 2014, 251-255. (Reviewed/Refereed) http://www.speechprosody2014.org/

Simões, Antônio R.M. "On the role of duration in connected speech. " In Contextos Linguísticos, 7. Editora da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, 2012. Digital version: http://periodicos.ufes.br/contextoslinguisticos/article/view/4379

Simões, A.R.M. 2006. "Clitic Attachment in Brazilian Portuguese. " In Hispania, vol. 89, no. 2, 380-389. 
Available for free at https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/17955

Simões, A.R.M. and E.C. Papanastasiou, 2002. "Evaluating the usefulness and properties of a subjective assessment of Brazilian Portuguese." In Hispania, 85.3:618-28, September 2002.  Available for free at https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/17956?show=full