{"id":7,"date":"2018-04-20T11:24:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T03:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.linguistics.hku.hk\/ldlhku\/wp\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2026-07-06T14:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T06:23:12","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/linguistics.hku.hk\/ldlhku\/people","title":{"rendered":"People"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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People<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Chen<\/figure>

Kevin, Fei Peng Chen<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Undergraduate Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nu3608462@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n
I am a year 4 undergraduate BA student, pursuing a double major in General Linguistics and Psychology with a minor in Counselling at HKU. As a third-culture kid, I grew up being exposed to various languages, which further fuels my passion for the study of linguistics. My primary areas of interest in the field of linguistics encompass child language, bilingualism, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, linguistics, and translation.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"IMG_2469\"<\/figure>

Ariana Cheung<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Lab manager<\/h6>\n\n
\n MA<\/abbr> HKU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\narianask@hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n\n
\nWith a Master of Arts in English Studies from The University of Hong Kong, I am interested in applied linguistics, discourse analysis, and cognitive linguistics. My academic interests also encompass language acquisition, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics, exploring how these disciplines intersect to influence communication and learning.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"<\/figure>

Lawrence, Hoi Ki Cheung<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Undergraduate Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nulawlaw@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

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\nI am a year 4 undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Linguistics and Philosophy, with a minor in Cognitive Science. I am particularly interested in the nature of meaning, encompassing both semantics and pragmatics, as well as the processes through which individuals acquire this knowledge. I am also interested in the nature of linguistic knowledge in general and how it differs from other domains of knowledge, such as our understanding of the empirical world and morality.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"<\/figure>

Aaron, Wing Cheung Chik<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Senior research Assistant<\/h6>\n\n
\n BA<\/abbr> HKU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\naaeronc@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n\n
\nI graduated from HKU with a Bachelor of Arts degree in General Linguistics and German. My research interests are in Cantonese sociophonetics, Hong Kong Sign Language, and computer schema designs for linguistic structures.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Youngah_Do\"<\/figure>

Youngah Do<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Principal Investigator<\/h6>\n\n\n
\n BA<\/abbr> SNU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>;\n
\n MA<\/abbr> SNU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>;\n
\n PhD<\/abbr> MIT<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\nwebpage<\/a> | \nyoungah@hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n\n
\nI research learning and learnability issues in phonological learning through behavioral experiments and modeling techniques. My work centers on understanding learning biases (why certain patterns are easier for humans to learn), the construction and connections of phonological knowledge (how specific aspects are represented and related in our minds), and the relationship between learning and transmission of language. I explore these questions in both spoken and signed languages.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"photo-Fu<\/figure>

Cathy, Yaying fu<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Undergraduate Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nfuyaying@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

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\nI'm a year 1 undergraduate BA general linguistics student with a double major in computer science. I'm interested in how various history, society and environment shape people's values and thus change the way they express them. Also, I'm willing to know how modern technologies can aid the exploration in humanities field.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"KiClarrisa\"<\/figure>

Clarissa Ki<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

PhD<\/abbr> Student<\/h6>\n
\n BA<\/abbr> UCL<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nclarissaki@connect.hku.hk\n<\/a>\n

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I am a PhD student interested in investigating language and music cognition. In particular, I would like to uncover how tone and melody in tone language songs are processed. I also have a wider interest in phonological acquisition.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Qisheng<\/figure>

Qisheng Liao <\/span><\/div><\/h4>

PhD<\/abbr> student<\/h6>\n\n
\n Bsc<\/abbr> UCSC<\/abbr>\n<\/div>;\n
\n Msc <\/abbr> NYU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nqisheng.liao@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n\n
\nWith a background in computer science and deep learning, I have worked on a variety of natural language processing and computer vision tasks, including semantic matching, language identification, text-to-speech, and text-to-image generation. I am excited to explore research at the intersection of linguistics and deep learning, with a particular interest in phonology and related areas.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"<\/figure>

Ming Liu<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

PhD<\/abbr> student<\/h6>\n\n
\n BLit<\/abbr> PKU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\nmingliu_7@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n\n
\nI'm a PhD student working on phonetics and language acquisition. My research projects include: 1) lab experiments on non-native vowel acquisition, primarily using Ultrasound, 2) field work about sound changes in Hakka, focusing on tone sandhi and fricative vowel, and 3) computational modelling on multimodal learning of speech. \n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Hazel,<\/figure>

Hazel, Parampara MAMGAIN<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Undergraduate Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nu3660452@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n
\nI am an international undergraduate student in my Year 1, pursuing a double-major in General Linguistics and Psychology. Growing up in India, surrounded by different languages, ignited my interest in the field of linguistics. My primary areas of interest include language acquisition, examining languages through psycho-neurological lenses, and the effect of plurilingualism on the human brain. I am also interested in examining how AI is changing and reshaping these fields.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Simon,<\/figure>

Simon, Gao SUN<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Undergraduate Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nsungao@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n
\nI am a year 2 undergraduate BA student, doing a General Linguistics major in HKU. Being a polyglot, I am interested in the languages worldwide and the underlying linguistic logic of them, especially on the p-side (phonetics, phonology, etc). With a 2nd major in Computer Science, I am also interested in using computational approaches to study linguistics. \n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"990e570893cb9042de3ec42369c10409\"<\/figure>

Frank, Lihui Tan<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

PhD<\/abbr> Student<\/h6>\n\n\n
\n BA<\/abbr> HKU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nfrank.lhtan@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n
\nI am a PhD student working on computational modelling of phonetic and phonological acquisition, its developmental dynamics and its comparison with human learning trajectories. My other interests include: 1) exploring sound representation learning in terms of linear and non-linear transformation; 2) rule and item-specific representation learning; 3) modelling of linguistic knowledge transfer and sound change.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"<\/figure>

Tilda, Yingqi Wang<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Undergraduate Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nyingqi_wang@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

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\nI am an undergraduate year 5 BA student, majoring in General Linguistics. My academic interests within the field of Linguistics include language acquisition, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics.\n\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"pelleas\"<\/figure>

Zhihao Wang<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

PhD<\/abbr> student<\/h6>\n\n\n
\n BLit<\/abbr> PKU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>;\n
\n MA<\/abbr> PKU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nwzhihaow@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n\n
\nI am a PhD student working on phonology and phonetics, and their interface. Having a background of Chinese historical phonology, I have a strong interest in comparative studies of Chinese dialects and some geographically adjacent languages. Currently, my research focuses on tones. I hope to get some new perspective through observing interaction of different tonal systems.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Xu<\/figure>

Francy, Lingyue XU<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Undergraduate Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nxu.lingyue@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n
\nI am a year 4 linguistics student with a minor in German. I am interested in language acquisition, particularly in the field of phonetics and phonology. I enjoy exploring the sounds of languages wordwide, and am particularly interested in perceiving the language-specific phonotactic patterns among diverse languages.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"<\/figure>

Yuyan Xue<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Research Assistant Professor<\/h6>\n
\n BA<\/abbr> BFSU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>;\n
\n MPhil<\/abbr> Cambridge<\/abbr>\n<\/div>;\n
\n PhD<\/abbr> Cambridge<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n
\nyuyanxue@hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n
\nI received a PhD in linguistics from the University of Cambridge in 2025. As a psycholinguist, my research revolves around the dynamic interplay between language and cognition: How does language learning influence our cognition? And how do our cognitive biases, in turn, influence language learning? I am also particularly interested in how awareness of linguistic regularities emerges during input-based language learning. I approach these issues using artificial language learning experiments, combining behavioural, ERP, EEG-based brain network analysis, and machine learning methods.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"IMG_2466\"<\/figure>

Tina, Ka Yee Yu<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Undergraduate Research Assistant<\/h6>
\ntina02@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

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\nI am a third-year Speech-Language Pathology student with a deep fascination for how neuroscience shapes language development. As I explore my research interests, I look forward to gaining hands-on experience and expanding my understanding of the brain\u2019s role in human communication and linguistic growth.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"<\/figure>

Rayne, Xiaoyu Yu<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

<\/abbr> Postdoctoral Fellow<\/h6>\n\n\n
\n BA<\/abbr> Tulane<\/abbr>\n<\/div>;\n
\n MPhil<\/abbr> Cambridge<\/abbr>; \n
\n PhD<\/abbr> HKU<\/abbr> \n<\/div>\n\n\n
\nxyu97@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n\n
\nTrained as an experimental phonologist, I focus on the cognitive and linguistic factors involved in the learning and processing of sound systems. My research employs both behavioral and neurophysiological (e.g., EEG) approaches. More broadly, I am also keen to explore phonological learning from various perspectives, including second language\/dialect acquisition, phonetics, language variation and change, language\/dialect contact, and psycholinguistics.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Shuhao_Zhang\"<\/figure>

Shuhao Zhang<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

PhD<\/abbr> student<\/h6>\n\n\n
\n BSc&BEng<\/abbr> THU<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nshuhaoz19@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n\n
\n I began my PhD studies in 2024 with a focus on phonological acquisition. Currently, I am interested in the acquisition of phonetic categories through the integration of various cues, and I plan to investigate this question using multiple methods, including neural experiments and computational approaches.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Jane,ZHANG<\/figure>

Jane, Jie ZHANG<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nzhang_jie@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

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\nI am currently pursuing a MA in Linguistics at HKU, with a particular interest in employing experimental approaches to investigate the systematic variation of speech sounds across languages and dialects. I am currently exploring methodologies in experimental design and computational tools, and I look forward to further developing my skills in this field.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"zhengshuang\"<\/figure>

Ivy, Shuang Zheng<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

PhD<\/abbr> student<\/h6>\n\n
\n BA<\/abbr> McGill<\/abbr>\n<\/div>\n
\nivyzheng@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

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\nI am a PhD student working on phonological learning and learning biases. I am interested in the role of phonetic substance in phonological acquisition. My current project employs computational simulations to uncover the nature of learning biases related to phonology.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Zou<\/figure>

April, Xingrui ZOU<\/span><\/div><\/h4>

Research Assistant<\/h6>
\nxu.lingyue@connect.hku.hk<\/a>\n

\n
\nI am a current MA student in Linguistics at HKU, where I also completed my undergrad degree in Linguistics with a minor in Cognitive Science. I am interested in psycholinguistics and language acquisition, with a special focus on the p-side. More recently, I have become increasingly interested in how AI-synthesized speech is processed and perceived.\n<\/div><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Previous Lab Members<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Postdoctoral researchers<\/h4>