Simon Roessig

né Ritter

I am a Lecturer in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York (UK) working in laboratory phonology and phonetics. I use a combination of empirical and computational methods to investigate various aspects of speech. My research interests include prosody, the relationship between phonology and phonetics, or more generally, the relationship between discrete and continuous aspects of speech, as well as dynamical models of speech production. Currently, my two main research foci are phrase-level prominence relations and the modelling of prosody in the framework of articulatory phonology.

From 2022 to 2023, I was a DFG Walter Benjamin Fellow in the Phonetics Lab at Cornell University where I worked with Sam Tilsen. In early 2021, I completed my dissertation on a dynamical approach to categorical and continuous modulations in the prosodic expression of information structure, supervised by Doris Mücke and Martine Grice. From 2017 to 2022, I was a researcher (first doctoral, then postdoctoral) in the CRC 'Prominence in Language' at the University of Cologne.

Contact me at simon.roessig [at] york.ac.uk, find me on Google Scholar, Researchgate or ORCID.

News

September 2023: I am excited to announce that I have moved from (upstate) New York to York in England to become Lecturer in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York!

April 2023: Four papers accepted at ICPhS 2023: My single author submission as well as three collabrations with different teams of co-authors got accepted the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS) in Prague. All papers will be presented as talks. In addition, Lena Pagel and Janne Lorenzen will present our joint work at the International Multimodal Communication Symposium in Barcelona and the Phonetics and Phonology conference in Nijmegen this summer. See presentations section.

January 2023: New pre-print out: The inverse relation of pre-nuclear and nuclear prominences in German.
This study presents a systematic investigation of the pre-nuclear domain and its relation to the nuclear accent in German. The results show that the realization of the pre-nuclear domain indeed depends on whether it is focal or pre-focal. Furthermore, the realization of a pre-focal, pre-nuclear domain depends on the following focus. The comparison to the nuclear accent suggests an inverse relationship, i.e., the pre-nuclear domain becomes less prominent when the nuclear domain becomes more prominent.

April 2022: The German Research Foundation funded my postdoctoral project on prosodic prominence in the task dynamics framework at the Department of Linguistics of the Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA, from summer 2022 to summer 2024 as part of the Walter-Benjamin programme.

November 2021: I received the Offermann-Hergarten Prize of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Cologne for my book Categoriality and continuity in prosodic prominence.

Short bio

Work

Since 2023: Lecturer at the University of York, United Kingdom
2022-2023: Postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
2021-2022: Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cologne, Germany
2017-2021: Doctoral researcher at the University of Cologne, Germany
2015-2016: Software developer for scientific libraries

Education

2017-2021: PhD in Phonetics, summa cum laude
2012-2014: MA in Linguistics
2009-2012: BA in Information Processing and Linguistics & Phonetics

Awards & Grants

2023: Travel grant of the International Phonetic Association
2022: Walter Benjamin postdoc project funded by the German Research Foundation (2 years)
2021: Offermann-Hergarten Prize of the University of Cologne
2018: Best Student Paper Award, 16th Conference of the Association for Laboratory Phonology
2013: Best Student Paper Award, 6th Conference on Phonetics and Phonology in Iberia

A detailed CV can be found here.

Publications

Note: prior to 2019 I published under my former name Ritter

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Coretta, S., Casillas, J. V., Roessig, S. [...] & Roettger, T. B. (2023). Multidimensional signals and analytic flexibility: Estimating degrees of freedom in human speech analyses. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science. link to pre-print

Dahmen, S., Grice, M., & Roessig, S. (2023). Prosodic and Segmental Aspects of Pronunciation Training and Their Effects on L2. Languages, 8(1), 74. link to article

Roessig, S., Winter, B., & Mücke, D. (2022). Tracing the Phonetic Space of Prosodic Focus Marking. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 5, 842546. link to article

Roessig, S., Mücke, D., & Grice, M. (2019). The dynamics of intonation: Categorical and continuous variation in an attractor-based model. PLOS ONE, 14(5), 1–36. link to article

Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2019). Modeling Dimensions of Prosodic Prominence. Frontiers in Communication, 4(44). link to article

Grice, M., Ritter, S., Niemann, H., & Roettger, T. B. (2017). Integrating the discreteness and continuity of intonational categories. Journal of Phonetics, 64, 90–107. link to article

Ritter, S., & Grice, M. (2015). The Role of Tonal Onglides in German Nuclear Pitch Accents. Language and Speech, 58(1), 114–128. link to article

Monograph

Roessig, S. (2021). Categoriality and continuity in prosodic prominence. Language Science Press. link to book

Peer-reviewed conference proceedings

Roessig, S. (2023). Prosody of pre-focal background depends on following focus. Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences.

Parrell, B., Mefferd, A., Harper, S., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2023). Using computational models to characterize the role of motor noise in speech: The case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences.

Pagel, L., Sóskuthy, M., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2023). A kinematic analysis of visual prosody: Head movements in habitual and loud speech. Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences.

Lorenzen, J., Roessig, S., & Baumann, S. (2023). Redundancy and individual variability in the prosodic marking of information status in German. Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences.

Roessig, S., Pagel, L., & Mücke, D. (2022). Speaking loudly reduces flexibility and variability in the prosodic marking of focus types. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2022, 500–504. link to article

Lorenzen, J., Roessig, S., & Baumann, S. (2022). Information status and tonal context jointly modulate prosodic prominence relations in German. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2022, 7–11. link to article

Buech, P., Roessig, S., Pagel, L., Mücke, D., & Hermes, A. (2022). ema2wav: Doing articulation by Praat. Proceedings of Interspeech 2022, 1352–1356. link to article

Roessig, S., Mücke, D., & Pagel, L. (2019). Dimensions of Prosodic Prominence in an Attractor Model. Proceedings of Interspeech 2019, 2533–2537. link to article

Kügler, F., Smolibocki, B., Arnold, D., Baumann, S., Braun, B., Grice, M., Jannedy, S., Michalsky, J., Niebuhr, O., Peters, J., Ritter, S., Röhr, C., Schweitzer, A., Schweitzer, K., & Wagner, P. (2015). DIMA – annotation guidelines for German intonation. Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. link to article

Ritter, S., & Roettger, T. B. (2014). Speakers modulate noise-induced pitch according to intonational context. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2014, 890–894. link to article

Other publications

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2022). How to achieve a prominence GOAL! in different speaking styles. In C. Gianollo, Ł. Jędrzejowski, & S. I. Lindemann, Paths through meaning and form: Festschrift offered to Klaus von Heusinger on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek Köln. link to book

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2021). Modifications of tongue body kinematics as a focus marking strategy in German. Proceedings of the 12th International Seminar on Speech Production. link to article

Manuscripts under review / in revision

Roessig, S.. The inverse relation of pre-nuclear and nuclear prominences in German. Submitted to Laboratory Phonology. link to pre-print

Mücke, D., Roessig, S., Mefferd, A., Thies, T. & Hermes, A. Challenges with the kinematic analysis of neurotypical and impaired speech: measures and models. Submitted to Journal of Phonetics.

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. The encoding of prominence relations in supra-laryngeal articulation across speaking styles. Submitted to Laboratory Phonology.

Presentations

Note: presentations prior to May 2019 as Simon Ritter

Invited talks

Roessig, S. (2023, March 29). Exploring three facets of prominence: Categoriality/gradience, multi-dimensionality, relations. Prosody & Speech Dynamics Lab, Northwestern University, Chicago, USA.

Roessig, S. (2022, May 11). Two dimensions of prominence relations: Prosodic focus marking in habitual and loud speech. Institute of Phonetics and Speech Processing, LMU Munich, Germany.

Roessig, S. (2022, April 5). Prominence relations on two axes: Evidence from focus marking in habitual and loud speech. Phonetics and Phonology Research Group, University Bielefeld, Germany.

Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2020, January 8). Prosodic prominence: Discreteness, gradience, and a dynamical systems account. Phonetics and Phonology Research Group, University Bielefeld, Germany.

Ritter, S., & Mücke, D. (2019, January 8). Prosodic variation from a dynamical perspective. Institut für Romanistik, University Hamburg, Germany.

Ritter, S., & Mücke, D. (2018, November 14). Prosody in a dynamic systems account. Department Linguistics, University Potsdam, Germany.

Conferences and workshops

Roessig, S. (2023, August 8). Prosody of pre-focal background depends on following focus [Talk]. 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.

Parrell, B., Mefferd, A., Harper, S., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2023, August 8). Using computational models to characterize the role of motor noise in speech: The case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [Talk]. 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.

Pagel, L., Sóskuthy, M., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2023, August 7). A kinematic analysis of visual prosody: Head movements in habitual and loud speech [Talk]. 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.

Lorenzen, J., Roessig, S., & Baumann, S. (2023, August 8). Redundancy and individual variability in the prosodic marking of information status in German [Talk]. 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., Sóskuthy, M., & Mücke, D. (2023, June 4). Multimodal signatures of prosodic prominence in habitual and loud speech [Talk]. International Multimodal Communication Symposium, Barcelona, Spain.

Lorenzen, J., Roessig, S., & Baumann, S. (2023). Exploring individual strategies in prosodic marking of information status in German [Poster]. Phonetics and Phonology in Europe 2023, Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Lorenzen, J., Roessig, S., & Baumann, S. (2022, October 6). Individual variability in the prosodic encoding of information status in German [Poster]. Phonetik und Phonologie im deutschsprachigen Raum, Bielefeld, Germany.

Buech, P., Roessig, S., Pagel, L., Mücke, D., & Hermes, A. (2022, September 20). ema2wav: Doing articulation by Praat [Poster]. Interspeech, Incheon, Korea.

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2022, August 27). Supra-laryngeal articulation under vocal effort variation [Poster]. Speech Motor Control, Groningen, Netherlands.

Buech, P., Roessig, S., Pagel, L., & Hermes, A. (2022, August 27). Making articulation accessible in Praat [Poster]. Speech Motor Control, Groningen, Netherlands.

Mücke, D., Antje, M., Thies, T., Roessig, S., & Hermes, A. (2022, August 27). Analysis and Modelling of Impaired Speech Movements: Challenges and Future Direction [Poster]. Speech Motor Control, Groningen, Netherlands.

Roessig, S., Winter, B., & Mücke, D. (2022, June 25). Exploring the phonetic space of focus [Poster]. LabPhon 18, online.

Lorenzen, J., Roessig, S., & Baumann, S. (2022, June 25). Syntagmatic and paradigmatic effects of information status on prosodic prominence relations in German – an online production task [Poster]. LabPhon 18, online.

Roessig, S., Lorenzen, J., & Baumann, S. (2022, June 3). Evidence for a prosodic prominence budget in German utterances [Poster]. 3rd International Conference “Prominence in Language,” Cologne, Germany.

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2022, June 3). Articulatory encoding of prominence in habitual and loud speech [Talk]. 3rd International Conference “Prominence in Language,” Cologne, Germany.

Roessig, S., Pagel, L., & Mücke, D. (2022, May 25). Speaking loudly reduces flexibility and variability in the prosodic marking of focus types. [Talk]. Speech Prosody, Lisbon, Portugal.

Lorenzen, J., Roessig, S., & Baumann, S. (2022, May 23). Information status and tonal context jointly modulate prosodic prominence relations in German [Talk]. Speech Prosody, Lisbon, Portugal.

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2021, June 22). Prominence relations and articulatory modifications in habitual and loud speech [Talk]. Phonetics and Phonology in Europe, Barcelona, Spain (online).

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2020, December 16). Modifications of tongue body kinematics as a focus marking strategy in German [Poster]. 12th International Seminar on Speech Production, Rhode Island, USA (online).

Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2019, June 18). Prosodic variation in a multi-dimensional dynamic system [Talk]. Phonetics and Phonology in Europe, Lecce, Italy.

Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2019, September 19). Dimensions of prosodic prominence in an attractor model [Talk]. Interspeech, Graz, Austria.

Pagel, L., Roessig, S., & Mücke, D. (2019, September 26). Prosodic strengthening in German: An investigation of tongue body kinematics [Talk]. 15. Phonetik und Phonologie Tagung, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Ritter, S., & Mücke, D. (2018, June 21). The phonetics and phonology of focus marking – an integrated account [Poster]. LabPhon 16, Lisbon, Portugal.

Ritter, S., & Mücke, D. (2018, July 12). Continuity and categoriality in prosodic prominence – the case of focus marking [Talk]. 2nd International Conference “Prominence in Language,” Cologne, Germany.

Ritter, S., & Roettger, T. B. (2014, May 23). Speakers modulate noise-induced pitch according to intonational context [Poster]. Speech Prosody, Dublin, Ireland.

Ritter, S., & Grice, M. (2013, June 26). The Role of Tonal Onglides in German Nuclear Pitch Accents [Talk]. Phonetics and Phonology in Iberia, Lisbon, Portugal.

Resources

ema2wav – an open source software package I am developing in collaboration with Philipp Buech. It converts data from electromagnetic articulography (EMA) into the wav-format. The resulting files can be displayed and analyzed in programs like Praat: https://github.com/phbuech/ema2wav
Code and data accompanying my book 'Categoriality and continuity in prosodic prominence', including MATLAB code demonstrating all dynamical systems reviewed in chapter 3: https://osf.io/4g6s2/.
GToBI training materials for the transcription of German intonation (joint work with Martine Grice, Stefan Baumann, and Christine Röhr): http://www.gtobi.uni-koeln.de/.