Tajudeen Mamadou

Deen Mamadou's research focus is on the representation and computation of tone and intonation, which are two of the most widely shared aspects of human languages. From a representation standpoint, Deen is interested in a unified theory of representation for tone and intonation, since both are two usages of pitch, if at two different levels of the grammar. Deen believes that a unified and linguistically adequate representation of tone and intonation is the first step toward a better understanding of the many nuances of tone and intonation interactions. This is where computational and mathematical approaches to tone and intonation prove almost unparalleled, in the sense that they help calculate the exact toll their interactions place on the language speaking mind. That is, Deen uses computational approaches to study issues related to the complexity of tonal and intonational processes (changes). Empirically, Deen's work focuses on understudies languages of sub-saharan Africa, where he conducts fieldworks, collecting experimental data from different languages like Ede Chaabe, Baatonum, Dan, and Zarma, spoken across Benin, Côte-d'Ivoire and Niger. Deen believes that linguistic theories and data must be like the two sides of the same coin and that the role of the linguist is to tweak the former to fit and predict the latter.