I have developed research strengths in Phonology and Phonetics, especially suprasegmental phonology, through fieldwork-based investigation of Prinmi, a Tibeto-Burman language of Yunnan, China. With broad interests in Linguistics, my research experience extends from analysis of Chinese languages to descriptive linguistics on Tibeto-Burman languages and covers sociolinguistic study of language endangerment as well as semantic change in language evolution.

Outside linguistics, I enjoy a game of bridge and cycling. Recently I have become a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Education

Ph.D. in Linguistics from Australian National University
Dissertation: Fundamentals of Prinmi (Pumi): A Tibeto-Burman Language of Northwestern Yunnan, China

M.A. in Linguistics from Simon Fraser University, Canada
Thesis: The BA Resultative Construction: A Comprehensive Study of Mandarin BA Sentences.

B.A. in Linguistics (cum laude) from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

Courses for 2010-2011

LING1001  Introduction to Linguistics (Team-teaching)

LING2004-A  Phonetics: Describing Sounds

LING2004-B  Phonetics: Describing Sounds

LING3003  Linguistics Field Trip

LING6001  Research Methods in Linguistics (Team-teaching)

LING7004  Phonetics and Phonology

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Major Research Interests

• Descriptive linguistics, with a focus on the sound system of lesser-known languages;

• Semantic change and grammaticalization;

• Sociolinguistics on languages of China, including language maintenance and linguistic ecology;

• Speech technologies for minority languages of China; and

• Typological phonology of tone languages, especially those of the Far East.

Interested in one of these areas for your postgraduate research?
Read on here.

Research Projects

• A descriptive grammar of Prinmi (a Tibeto-Burman language of Yunnan);

• Exploring phonological typology of languages of China;

• A study on pronunciation of Tangut characters in classical dictionaries.

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Supervised Dissertations

Ling, Hiu Yan 2010. Production of English /r/ And /w/ by Cantonese L1 Speakers in Hong Kong (M.A. thesis).

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Selected Publications

2007.     Studies on Bǎ Resultative Construction: A comprehensive approach to Mandarin Bǎ sentences. Lincom Studies in Asian Linguistics 62. München: Lincom.

Articles

2010a.    Phonological change in Hong Kong Cantonese through language contact with Chinese topolects and English over the past century. In: Robert McColl Millar, Marginal dialects: Scotland, Ireland and beyond. Aberdeen, UK, Forum for Research on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster, 198-218.

2010b.    Rhoticization as a Secondary Articulation in Stops: Evidence from Prinmi. Chinese Journal of Phonetics 2: 74-81.

2010c.    粤语的「据由」助词初探。《澳门人文社会科学研究文选. 语言翻译卷》(程祥徽主编), 北京，社会科学文献出版社: 150-159。

2008.    Learning of Minority Languages in Yunnan, China. In De Graaf, Tjeerd, Nicholas Ostler and Reinier Salverda (eds.) Endangered Languages and Language Learning (Proceedings of FEL XII), pp. 93-100. Bath, England: Foundation for Endangered Languages.

2007a.     Challenges in Language Modernization in China: The case of Prinmi. In David, Maya, Nicholas Ostler and Caesar Dealwis (eds.) Working Together for Endangered Languages: Research Challenges and Social Impacts (Proceedings of FEL XI), pp. 120-126. Bath, England: Foundation for Endangered Languages.

2007b.     The Use of Perception Tests in Studying the Tonal System of Prinmi Dialects: A Speaker-centered Approach to Descriptive Linguistics. Language Documentation and Conservation 1.2: 154-181.

2006a.    A Typological Study of Tonal Systems of Japanese and Prinmi: Towards a definition of pitch-accent languages. Journal of Universal Language 7.2: 1-35.

2006b.   粵語的「據由」助詞初探 Journal of Macao Polytechnic Institute 9.4: 105-113.

2005a.    China. In Philipp Strazny (ed.) Encyclopedia of Linguistics. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. Pp. 189-194.

2005b.   Tone Languages. In Philipp Strazny (ed.)  Encyclopedia of Linguistics. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. Pp. 1117-1120.

2003.     Prinmi: a sketch of Niuwozi. In Graham Thurgood and Randy LaPolla (eds.) The Sino-Tibetan Languages. London: Routledge Press. Pp. 588-601.

2001a.    Semantic Change vs. Categorical Change: A study of the development of Mandarin BA. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 29.1: 102-128.

2001b.   The pitch-accent system of Niuwozi Prinmi. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 24.2: 57-83.

2000a.    A Computational Study of the Ba Resultative Construction: Parsing Mandarin Ba Sentences in HPSG. In Ikeya, Akira & Masahito Kawamori (eds.) Proceedings of the 14^th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation, pp. 67-78. Chiba: Toyo Gakuen University.

2000b.   Topic-Comment Constructions in Prinmi. In The 33rd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, pp. 348-359. Bangkok: Ramkhamhaeng University.

Book Reviews

2008a. Dramatized Discourse: The Mandarin Chinese ba-construction (By Zhuo Jing-Schmidt). China Review International, 15.2: 228-233.

2008b. Koguryo: The Language of Japan's Continental Relatives (Second Edition) (By Christopher Beckwith).

2007. Atlas of the World's Languages (Second Edition) (Edited by R. E. Asher and Christopher Moseley).

2006. Language Diversity in the Pacific: Endangerment and Survival (Edited by Cunningham, Denis; Ingram, D. E.; Sumbuk, Kenneth).

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Recent Conference Presentations

Jan, 2011	The Prosodic System of Japanese as a Subtype of Tone System: Evidence from Prinmi. To be presented at CUNY Conference on the Phonology of Endangered Languages. (Handout) City University of New York, New York, USA.
Oct, 2010	Numerals in Tangut. Presented at The 43rd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
July, 2010	语言生态与西部大开发，宣读于中国社会语言学会第七届国际学术研讨会。青海西宁，青海民族大学。
June, 2010	Language Ecology and Developing China's West: The case of Yunnan. Presented at The Third Conference on Heritage Maintenance for Endangered Languages in Yunnan, China. Yuxi, Yunnan, China.
May, 2010	送气擦音的语音特点 — 以黔东南黄平苗语为例, 宣读于第九届中国语音学学术会议。天津，南开大学。
April, 2010	Pragmatic Strategies in Prinmi. Presented at Workshop on Pragmatic Markers in Asian Languages. National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Feb, 2010	The Role of Domain in the Lexical Tone System. Presented at The 32nd Annual Conference Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft. Berlin, Germany.
Feb, 2010	Diversity in Sino-Tibetan Languages. Presented at The Conference on Sino-Tibetan Language Studies. Chiangrai Rajabaht University. Chiangrai, Thailand.
Aug, 2009	从语调到声调—以粤语句末语气助词‘呀’、‘喎’为例,宣读于南开大学语言研究所和天津市语言学会主办之「首届汉语韵律及语调研究讨论会」。大连，辽宁师范大学国际教育学院。
Aug, 2009	白语中的唇齿音(The Labio-dentals in Bai)，宣读于中国社会科学院民族学与人类学研究所、上海市高校比较语言学E-研究院（上海师范大学）、大理白族自治州人民政府、大理学院合辦之「首届白语国际学术研讨会」。 (Presented at the First International Conference on the Bai Language. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture Government, and Dali College. Dali, Yunnan, China.)
July, 2009	Syllable-tone, Word-tone and Melody-tone: Towards a Typology of Tone Languages of China. Presented at the 8th Biennial Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology. University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Jan, 2009	試評〈白狼歌〉之壯語破譯 ，宣讀於香港中文大學舉辦之「古道照顏色─先秦兩漢古籍國際學術研討會」。
Sept, 2008	Learning of Minority Languages in Yunnan, China. Presented at the Twelfth Conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages. Fryske Akademy, Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
Sept, 2008	Sibling Terminology in Prinmi. Presented at the 41st International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. SOAS, London, UK.
Sept, 2008	Size Doesn't Matter: Language Endangerment in China. Presented at the 41st International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. SOAS, London, UK.
Sept, 2008	(with Caroline Féry.) Word Order, Information Structure and Intonation of Discontinuous Nominal Constructions in Cantonese. Presented at the 41st International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. SOAS, London, UK.
April, 2008	Rhoticization as a Secondary Articulation in Stops: Evidence from Prinmi. Presented at the International Symposium on Phonetic Frontiers. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China.
Oct, 2007	Challenges in Language Modernization in China: The case of Prinmi. Presented at the Eleventh Conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages. University of Malaya, Kula Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sept, 2007	The Prosodic Structure of Prinmi. Presented at the Workshop on Phonological Words in South Asia and Southeast Asia. University of Leipzig, Germany.
Sept, 2006	Evidential Constructions of Cantonese. Presented at the Conference on the Syntax of the World's Languages (II). Lancaster University, Britain.
July, 2006	Approaches to Linguistic Diversity and Biological Diversity: A Critical Comparison. Presented at the Language Culture and Mind Conference (II). École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications, France.

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Links

The Avatar	An animation based on an ancient Chinese world  ̶  amazing, entertaining and educating.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences	This houses Institute of Linguistics as well as Institute of Ethnology & Anthropology.
Initiative B@bel	UNESCO's approach to multilingualism in cyberspace.
The Linguist List	The most resourceful website for linguists.
Languages of the World	An informative website about languages of our world.
Media coverage	The Sun (Hong Kong) has a brief on my work on Cantonese evidentials, delivered at the 10th International Conference on Yue Languages in 2005; The Reuters made a global coverage of FEL XI Conference held in Kuala Lumpur in 2007. It has been translated into Chinese and Portuguese.
Minority Languages of China	The official website of 中国少数民族语言研究所.
Web articles for sharing:	These are written in Chinese. Hopefully, you'll know what to learn in life with or without a PhD and find out the philosophy of the boomerang.