skip to content

Faculty of Arts and HumanitiesPhonetics (Department of Linguistics)

Dr. Justine Mertz

Institut für Linguistik - Phonetik

Herbert-Lewin-Str. 6
D-50931
Köln

E-Mail: jmertz1@uni-koeln.de
Telefon: (+49) 0221 - 470 7047
Fax: (+49) 0221 - 470 5938

Post-doctoral researcher in sign language phonetics/phonology under the direction of Doris Mücke

Project: "Coarticulation in sign language: Production and Perception" (Fyssen grant)

Publications

Submitted

  • Mertz, J., (sub.). Categorical Perception in French Sign Language (LSF).

Under Review

  • Mertz, J. and Geraci, C. (under review). Modeling contrast and feature inventory: The nature of [web] in French Sign Language.

2022

  • Mertz, J., Annucci, C., Aristodemo, V., Giustolisi, B., Gras, D., Turco, G., Geraci, C., & Donati, C. (2022). Measuring sign complexity: Comparing a model-driven and an error-driven approach, Laboratory Phonology, 24(1)., https://doi.org/10.16995/labphon.6439.

2021

  • Sanches, C., Stengel, C., Godard, J., Mertz, J., Teichmann, M., Migliaccio, R., & Valero-Cabré, A. (2021). Past, present, and future of non-invasive brain stimulation approaches to treat cognitive impairment in neurodegenerative diseases: Time for a comprehensive critical review. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 12, 578339., https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2020.578339.

2020

  • Mertz, J. (2020). Représentation phonologique des signes à deux mains en LSF: faut-il reconsidérer l’orientation absolue dans les modèles phonologiques des langues des signes?. In 6e conférence conjointe Journées d’Études sur la Parole (JEP, 33e édition), Traitement Automatique des Langues Naturelles (TALN, 27e édition), Rencontre des Étudiants Chercheurs en Informatique pour le Traitement Automatique des Langues (RÉCITAL, 22e édition). Volume 1: Journées d’Études sur la Parole (pp. 424-432). ATALA; AFCP., PDF.

  • Abner, N., Geraci, C., Yu, S., Lettieri, J., Mertz, J., & Salgat, A. (2020). Getting the upper hand on sign language families: Historical analysis and annotation methods. FEAST. Formal and Experimental Advances in Sign language Theory, 3, 17-29., https://doi.org/10.31009/FEAST.i3.02.

2019

  • Mertz, J., Surreault, A., van de Waal, E., & Botting, J. (2019). Primates are living links to our past: The contribution of comparative studies with wild vervet monkeys to the field of social cognition. Cortex, 118, 65-81., PDF.

2018

  • Routier, A., Habert, M. O., Bertrand, A., Kas, A., Sundqvist, M., Mertz, J., David, P.- M., Bertin, H., Godefroy, O., Etcharry-Bouyx, F., Moreaud, O., Pasquier, F., Couratier, P., Bennys, K., Boutoleau Bretoniere, C., Martinaud, O., Laurent, B., Pariente, J., Puel, M., Belliard, S., Migliaccio, R., Dubois, B., Colliot, O., & Teichmann, M. (2018). Structural, microstructural, and metabolic alterations in primary progressive aphasia variants. Frontiers in neurology, 9, 766., https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2018.00766.

To top of page

Conference presentations

2022

  • “Categorical perception in French Sign Language (LSF)” (Mertz J, Turco G, Geraci C), 2022 Generative Linguistics in the Old World (GLOW 45), April 27-29, 2022, London, England.

  • “Categorical perception in French Sign Language (LSF)” (Mertz J, Turco G, Geraci C), The Chicago Linguistic Society (CLS 58), April 22-24, 2022, Chicago, USA.

  • “Categorical perception in French Sign Language (LSF)” (Mertz J, Turco G, Geraci C), Incontro di Grammatica Generativa (IGG 47), February 24-26, 2022, Catania, Italy.

2021

  • “Universal vs. Language specific feature inventory: on the contrast of [web] in LSF” (Mertz J), Formal and Experimental Advances in Sign Language Theory (FEAST), Online, June 1-4, 2022, Hong Kong.

2020

  • “Structural Phylogenetics and the Reconstruction of Sign Language History” (Abner N, Geraci C, Yu S, Lettieri J, Mertz J, Salgat A), Formal and Experimental Advances in Sign Language Theory (FEAST), June 23-25, 2020, Paris - Online, France.

  • “Représentation phonologique des signes à deux mains en LSF : faut-il reconsidérer l’orientation absolue dans les modèles phonologiques des langues des signes ?” (Mertz J), Journées d’Études sur la Parole (JEP-TALN-RECITAL), June 8-19, 2020, Nancy - Online, France.

2019

  • SIGNopsis - “Articulatory evidence for sign language typology and history” (Abner N, Geraci C, Mertz J, Yu S), Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR 13), September 26-28, 2019, Hamburg, Germany.

  • “On how to measure phonological complexity of sign languages” (Aristodemo V, Annucci C, Geraci C, Giustolisi B, Gras D, Mertz J, Donati C), Phonetics and Phonology in Europe (PaPE), June 17-19, 2019, Lecce, Italy.

  • “Typological and Historical relations across sign languages - The view from articulatory features” (Geraci C, Mertz J, Lettieri J, Yu S, Abner N), Phonetics and Phonology in Europe (PaPE), June 17-19, 2019, Lecce, Italy.

  • “Theory-Description-Theory: A round trip in French sign language phonology.” (Mertz J, Geraci C), Theoretical and Formal Linguistics (TFL), June 11, 2019, Nantes, France.

  • “Investigation of sign language phonology: On how LSF makes us reconsider absolute orientation and timing units” (Mertz J), Paris-Cologne Collaborative Meeting (PCCM 6), June 3-5, 2019, Cologne, Germany.

  • “On how to measure phonological complexity of sign languages” (Aristodemo V, Annucci C, Geraci C, Giustolisi B, Gras D, Mertz J, Donati C), Generative Linguistics in the Old World (GLOW 42), May 7-11, 2019, Oslo, Norway.

  • “Typological and Historical relations across sign languages - The view from articulatory features.” (Geraci C, Mertz J, Yu S, Lettieri J, Abner N), Incontro di Grammatica Generativa (IGG 45), February 21-23, 2019, Padova, Italy.

2018

  • “La famiglie linguistiche nelle lingue dei segni” (Geraci C, Abner N, Lettieri J, Yu S, Mertz J), 4◦ Convegno Nazionale LIS, November 9-11, 2018, Rome, Italy.

To top of page

Invited presentations

2022

  • “Categorical Perception in French Sign Language (LSF)”, Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (LSCP), Ecole Normale Supérieure, June 2022, Paris, France.

2021

  • “Perception catégorielle en Langue des Signes Française (LSF)”, Laboratoire MODYCO, Université Paris Nanterre, December 2021, Paris, France.

2020

  • “Classe phonémique Orientation : Quel statut en linguistique des langues des signes?”, Atelier de Phonologie - Université Paris 8, April 2020, Saint-Denis, France.

  • “Relative vs. absolute orientation in sign language: The case of LSF”, Séminaires de Recherches en Phonétique et Phonologie (SRPP) - Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, February 2020, Paris, France.

To top of page

Poster presentations and short talks

2021

  • “Categorical Perception in French Sign Language (LSF)” (Mertz J, Turco G, Geraci C), Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Processing (AMLaP 2021), September 2-4, 2021, Paris - Online, France.

2019

  • “Measuring phonological complexity in Sign Languages” (Mertz J, Aristodemo V, Annucci C, Geraci C, Giustolisi B, Gras D, Donati C), Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR 13), September 26-28, 2019, Hamburg, Germany.

  • “Theory-Description-Theory: A round trip in French sign language phonology” (Mertz J, Geraci C), Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR 13), September 26-28, 2019, Hamburg, Germany.

  • “Theoretical and Empirical issues of phonemic inventories in French Sign Language” (Mertz J, Geraci C, Turco G), Phonetics and Phonology in Europe (PaPE), June 17-19, 2019, Lecce, Italy.

  • “Typological and Historical relations across sign languages - The view from articulatory features” (Geraci C, Mertz J, Lettieri J, Yu S, Abner N), Generative Linguistics in the Old World (GLOW 42), May 7-11, 2019, Oslo, Norway.

  • “Questions théoriques et empiriques sur les inventaires phonémiques des langues signées : le cas de la LSF” (Mertz J), Journée d’Ouverture à la Recherche en LSF (JORLSF - dissemination day), April 11, 2019, Paris, France.

To top of page

Teaching experience

  • Lecture: Language acquisition (BA), 24h, Introduction to language acquisition, Université Paris Cité.
  • Lecture: Experimental Phonology (MA), 14h, Module on sign language phonology: Categorical perception and EEG studies, Université Paris Cité.
  • Lecture & TA: Phonetic and phonological principles (BA), 64h, Introduction to French phonetics and phonology, Université Paris Cité.
  • TA: Phonology (BA), 108h, General course, Université Paris Cité.
  • Lecture & TA: Phonetics (BA), 8h, Module on sign language phonetics, Université Paris Cité.
  • Lecture: Introduction to sign language linguistics, 2h, General introduction as an invited lecturer, Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL).

To top of page

Reviewing and supervising activities

International Journal reviewer

  • Frontiers in Psychology, August 2022
  • Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, July 2022

Supervising activities

  • MA student, Supervision of an MA thesis in sign language linguistics, U. Turin, ongoing.

  • Intern in formal linguistics (BA), Supervision of a one-month internship: work on a confusion matrix for inter-rater reliability, LLF - U. Paris Cité, July 2022.

  • Intern in speech therapy, Supervision of a one-month internship: immersion in a research environment, participation to lab meetings, scientific readings, building and developing a confusion matrix, IJN-ENS, June 2021

  • Intern in formal linguistics (MA), Supervision of a three-month internship: participation in a study on articulatory complexity in sign language, scientific readings, data cleaning, building a research question and developing a confusion matrix, LLF - U. Paris Cité, April-June 2020.

To top of page

Independant fundings

  • Post Doctoral Research Fellowship, Fyssen Foundation, Grant for a 2-year post-doc to conduct my own project "Coarticulation in sign language: Production and Perception" at the University of Cologne, February 2023 - January 2025.

  • Fulbright Foreign Student Program, Fulbright bursary, Fundings to cover a 4.5-month stay at the University of Chicago as a Visiting Student Researcher, October 2019 – February 2020.

  • Mobility grant, Labex EFL, Fundings to cover a 4.5-month stay at the University of Chicago as a Visiting Student Researcher, October 2019 – February 2020.

  • Ph.D. fundings at the École Doctorale “Sciences du Langage”, ED132 - LLF UMR 7110, Paris, Fundings which cover a three-year Ph.D, September 2018.

  • Bursary for the SIGN-HUB CNRS Summer School in Sign Language Linguistics, Como, Italy, Bursary which covers housing during the Summer School, June 11-15, 2018.

To top of page

*