𐐈𐐺𐐵𐐻

RKS Prof. Ryan Shosted is an experimental phonetician and phonologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on how phonetic principles shape phonological, typological, and diachronic outcomes in language. He specializes in the production of speech, whether through the lens of acoustics, kinematics, or aerodynamics. His research group has made remarkable advances using ultra-fast magnetic resonance imaging to study speech. He works toward models of speech production built on data from typologically and geographically diverse languages, including understudied and endangered languages. He gains insights into historical sound change by studying writing systems like Hittite cuneiform and the Deseret Alphabet.

As part of his commitment to public engagement, Prof. Shosted has since 2008 accompanied the local Q'anjob'al (Maya) community of Champaign-Urbana in publishing Mayan-language literacy materials and educating the non-Maya community about the Q'anjob'al language.

Prof. Shosted has taught throughout the curriculum in Linguistics, including phonetics and phonology, as well as field methods, quantitative methods, Hittite, and introduction to linguistic science. He is the host of the giga-hit It's the LING 100 Show, which completed its fifth season in Fall 2021.

Curriculum vitae

News features

"Illinois researchers make Deseret Alphabet texts available for study" (2022).
"Faculty members, staff, teaching assistants honored with Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction" (2021).
"Hittite class offers glimpse of Bronze Age language, technology" (2019).
Guardian article citing Prof. Shosted's accompaniment of the Q'anjob'al (Maya) community of Champaign-Urbana: "Why migrants who speak indigenous languages slip through cracks in US schools" (2019).
WLRN-FM (NPR South Florida) broadcast featuring an interview with Prof. Shosted: "A Quick primer on Q'anjob'al and other Mayan languages" (2019).
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and technology article profiling Prof. Shosted: "Understanding the sounds of human speech" (2011).

Recently presented

Shosted, R. K. 2022. "𐐂𐑉 𐑄𐐩𐑉 𐑅𐐨𐐼𐑆 𐐱𐑂 𐑄 𐐿𐐫𐑉𐐼-𐐿𐐪𐑉𐐼 𐑋𐐲𐑉𐐾𐐲𐑉 𐐮𐑌 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻 𐐈𐑊𐑁𐐰𐐺𐐯𐐻 𐐻𐐯𐐿𐑅𐐻𐑅?". Linguistics Department Colloquium, University of Utah (2022).

Recently published

Keenan Jones, D., Motta, D., Garcia, M. H., Sivaguru, M., Perillo, M., Shosted, R. K., Fouke, B. W. 2022. Travertine crystal growth ripples record the hydraulic history of ancient Rome's Anio Novus aqueduct. Scientific Reports 12(1): 1239.

Hermes, Z., Barlaz, M., Shosted, R., Liang, Z.-P., Sutton, B. P. (2021). Articulatory and acoustic correlates of pharyngealization and pharyngealization spread in Cairene Arabic: A real-time magnetic resonance imaging study. In D. Ntelitheos and T. Tsz-Cheung Leung (eds.), Experimental Arabic Linguistics, pp. 24-55.

Xing, F., Jin, R., Gilbert, I. R., Perry, J. L., Sutton, B. P., Liu, X., El Fakhri, G., Shosted, R. K., Woo, J. (2021). 4D magnetic resonance imaging atlas construction using temporally aligned audio waveforms in speech. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 150: 3500-3508.

Affiliations at Illinois

Department of Linguistics

Illinois Phonetics & Phonology Lab

Education

Ph.D. 2006 University of California, Berkeley, Linguistics
M.A. 2003 University of California, Berkeley, Linguistics
B.A. 2000 Brigham Young University, Linguistics

Honors & Awards

Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021
Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021
Arnold O. Beckman Award, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009, 2010
Jacob K. Javits Fellow, 2001-2005
Fulbright Scholar, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Núcleo de Estudo de Línguas Indígenas Moçambicanas, Maputo, Mozambique, 2000-2001
National Security Education Scholar, Filozofická Fakulta, Univerzita Palackého, Olomouc, Czech Republic, 1995

𐐡𐐪𐐷𐐲𐑌 𐐗. 𐐟𐐱𐑅𐐻𐐯𐐼

𐐑𐑉𐐲𐑁𐐯𐑅𐑉 𐐱𐑂 𐐢𐐮𐑍𐑀𐐶𐐮𐑅𐐻𐐮𐐿𐑅

𐐏𐐭𐑌𐐮𐑂𐑉𐑅𐐮𐐻𐐮 𐐱𐑂 𐐆𐑊𐐮𐑌𐑎 𐐰𐐻 𐐊𐑉𐐺𐐰𐑌𐐲-𐐟𐐰𐑋𐐹𐐩𐑌