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Leveraging large language models to understand real-world language use Date: 5 Mar 2026 (Thu) Time: 4:00 pm Venue: CPD LG.08 Centennial Campus
A new method for the analysis of language contact situations Date: 26 Feb 2026 (Thu) Time: 4:00 pm Venue: CPD LG.08 Centennial Campus
Olguín Martínez, Jesús & Stefan Th. Gries. 2026. The link between syntax, semantics, discourse, and lexicon in counteridenticals: A multivariate extension of co-varying collexeme analysis. Functions of Language (published online). https://doi.org/10.1075/fol.24101.olg The present study goes beyond traditional Usage-Based Construction Grammar research in that it pays close attention not only to the interaction of lexicon and syntax in language use, but also to how other analytic layers of analysis (e.g., discourse) can influence the compatibility of lexemes in particular slots of constructional schemas. The paper provides a novel way to explore the following question: how do syntax, semantics, discourse, and lexicon [...]
Filler-slot relations in language contact: Lexico-syntactic transference from a usage-based perspective – Jesús Olguín-Martinez Olguín Martínez, Jesús & Stefan Th. Gries. 2026. Filler-slot relations in language contact: Lexico-syntactic transference from a usage-based perspective. Review of Cognitive Linguistics (published online). https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00250.olg The study investigates the influence of Mexican Spanish similative (e.g., he swims like a fish) and pretence constructions (e.g., he swims as if he were a fish) on those found in four Mesoamerican languages: Huasteca Nahuatl, Papantla Totonac, San Gabriel Huastec, and Uxpanapa Chinantec. Using predictive modeling, we demonstrate that these indigenous languages have not only borrowed the markers komo [...]
A'ingae nasality always floats Abstract: The phonology of nasality in A'ingae (or Cofán, ISO 639-3: con) is complex and has received several treatments in the previous literature (e.g. Bennett et al., t.a.; Sanker, 2025; Sanker and AnderBois, 2024). In this talk, I focus specifically on nasality in the language's native roots, and observe a new restriction on its distribution: If present, nasality always "starts" from the left edge and extends through (a part of) the root. To account for this pattern, I propose that nasality in A'ingae is always a floating feature that associates from the left, and all segments [...]
Prof. Jesus Olguin-Martinez, University of Hong Kong Linguistics Department D-CCCA: A database for syntactic typological research Syntactic typological databases have received a great deal of attention recently (e.g., The World Atlas of Language Structures online; Grambank; Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures online). These databases have contributed to our theoretical understanding of syntactic variation in typological perspective. However, much more work remains to be done. In particular, no syntactic typological database has focused on documenting groups of constructions that share similar semantic and pragmatic characteristics, as the following: (1) a. If you had gone, you would have seen her (standard [...]
“Bottom-up modeling of phoneme learning: Universal sensitivity and language-specific transformation” published in Speech Communication We are pleased to announce the publication of a new paper titled “Bottom-up modeling of phoneme learning: Universal sensitivity and language-specific transformation” in the journal Speech Communication. This study was conducted by Frank and Youngah. The research investigates the emergence and development of universal phonetic sensitivity during early phonological learning using an unsupervised modeling approach. The authors trained autoencoder models on raw acoustic input from English and Mandarin to simulate bottom-up perceptual development, focusing on phoneme contrast learning. The results demonstrate that phoneme-like categories and feature-aligned [...]
Putting words together in the brain to produce complex words Date: 4 Dec 2025 (Thu) Time: 4:30 pm Venue: Rm 3.04, 3/F Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Uncovering the dynamics of language shift: Ideologies, repertoires, and displacement Date: 27 Nov 2025 (Thu) Time: 4:00 pm Venue: Rm 3.04, 3/F Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Researching the contact language Lingala in the margins: From Brazza to Cabinda and Rwanda Date: 20 Nov 2025 (Thu) Time: 4:00 pm Venue: Rm 3.04, 3/F Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
The interaction of standard negation in clauses of substitution: a typological account I am this year’s recipient of the Anna Siewierska Award from the Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE), recognizing the best article published in Folia Linguistica (FL). FL is one of the leading journals in linguistics, and SLE is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious professional organizations for linguists in Europe. The following is the paper that was the winner: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/flin-2023-2044/html?srsltid=AfmBOorRWgkLjSt4wJlQF9wNvwo9F17eqdmu7hUuh305-GgzbVBKXKEW Publications
2025. Similative-pretence constructions in language contact situations: A Usage-Based Construction Grammar perspective. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 12. 292-321 Similative-pretence constructions in language contact situations A Usage-Based Construction Grammar perspective Jesús Olguín Martínez | University of Hong Kong Stefan Th. Gries | Justus-Liebig University Giessen | UC Santa Barbara The present study introduces a method that can be used to explore in a quantitatively rigorous yet less demanding way (both in terms of data and statistical requirements) how constructional templates and their lexical preferences (lexico-syntactic transference) diffuse in language contact situations. The study investigates the influence of Mexican Spanish similative-pretence constructions on Huasteca Nahuatl similative-pretence constructions as a proof-of-concept [...]
2025. Exceptive constructions in Huasteca Nahuatl: On the interaction of syntax and discourse in language use. Studies in Language (published online) Exceptive constructions in Huasteca Nahuatl On the interaction of syntax and discourse in language use Jesús Olguín Martínez | University of Hong Kong The paper explores exceptive constructions (e.g., all my family went to the wedding except Mark) in Huasteca Nahuatl (Uto-Aztecan). It is shown that connected and free exceptives have developed intriguing discourse-pragmatic functions that have not been identified by previous studies. While connected exceptives (e.g., everyone except Pedro went to the meeting) indicate a surprising situation, free exceptives (e.g., everyone went to [...]
Tone Development and Change Date: 13 Nov 2025 (Thu) Time: 4:00 pm Venue: Rm 3.04, 3/F Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Cross-linguistic perceptual evidence for the suffixing preference Date: 6 Nov 2025 (Thu) Time: 4:00 pm Join Zoom link: https://hku.zoom.us/j/98370566345?pwd=FHgSMHHyYrjCka4XRAOOw6uuOXiRiE.1 MEETING ID: 983 7056 6345 PASSWORD: 104306
On the alignment and misalignment of speech perception and productionDate: 30 Oct 2025 (Thu)Time: 4:00 pmVenue: Rm 3.04, 3/F Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
“Attention-LSTM autoencoder simulation for phonotactic learning from raw audio input” published in Linguistics Vanguard We are pleased to announce the publication of a new paper by Frank Lihui Tan and Youngah Do in the journal Linguistics Vanguard. The paper, titled “Attention-LSTM autoencoder simulation for phonotactic learning from raw audio input,” explores a novel approach to phonotactic learning using an attention-based long short-term memory (LSTM) autoencoder trained on raw audio input. Unlike previous models that rely on abstract phonological representations, this study simulates early phonotactic acquisition stages by processing continuous acoustic signals. The research focuses on an English phonotactic pattern, specifically [...]
Phonological optimization for sight and sound: Disentangling visual-articulatory and auditory-acoustic factors in phonetic enhancement and hyperarticulation General Research Fund Award (GRF), 2025-28 Principal investigator: Jonathan Havenhill Amount: 941,184 HKD Abstract Sound is arguably the primary (and often only) medium by which spoken language is conveyed. This allows communication to proceed when the speaker is obscured, whether over the phone, in the dark, at a distance, or when wearing a face mask. At the same time, vision and other types of non-auditory perception are also important. Spoken language is often accompanied by facial expressions and manual gestures, and the ability to [...]
“Tonal Assignment of Chinese Lettered Words” published in Journal of Chinese Linguistics We are pleased to announce the publication of a new paper by Zhihao Wang and Youngah Do in the Journal of Chinese Linguistics. The paper, titled “Tonal Assignment of Chinese Lettered Words,” explores the complex patterns of tonal assignment in Chinese lettered words, particularly in Beijing Mandarin. The study reveals that Chinese lettered words display a clear stress-to-tone match pattern, with additional rules of phonetic contrast maximization and a default rule also playing a role in tonal assignment. The findings suggest that the complex patterns previously reported in [...]
“Bilinguals’ advantages in executive function” published in Second Lang. Res. We are pleased to announce the publication of a new paper by Samuel, Xiaoyu, Thomas, Bingzi, and Youngah. The paper, titled “Bilinguals’ Advantages in Executive Function: Learning Phonotactics and Alternation,” has been published in Second Language Research. This study investigates the relationship between phonotactics and alternation in phonological acquisition and explores whether bilingual speakers have an advantage in learning alternation patterns that are not fully supported by phonotactics. Phonotactics refers to the legal sequences and structures within a language’s phonology, while alternation involves context-sensitive changes in morphemes. The research predicts that [...]
