Faculty

Christophe Coupé

Associate Professor

Professor Christophe Coupé received a PhD degree in cognitive science in 2003 from the University of Lyon 2. He then worked as a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), until joining HKU. His research interests in linguistics cover language evolution and language diversity, especially at the phonetic level, and the application of computational and statistical methods to linguistic data. Besides, Dr. Coupé has also conducted research in psycholinguistics, psycho-phenomenology and social psychology.

Email: ccoupe@hku.hk
Office: Room 9.14, RRST, Centennial Campus

Maksymilian Dąbkowski

Research Assistant Professor

I received a PhD in linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2025. My research investigates the structure of the phonological grammar and its interfaces through original fieldwork on lesser-studied languages. My main empirical focus is on A’ingae (or Cofán, ISO 639-3: con), an Amazonian isolate spoken by ca. 1,500 Cofán people in Ecuador and Colombia. Some themes that figure prominently in my work include the relationship between phonological and morphosyntactic domains in complex agglutinative words and cyclicity across modules.

Personal webpage: maksymilian-dabkowski.github.io

Youngah Do

Associate Professor
MA Chair, Chief Examiner

UG Chief Examiner

As a phonologist, my research centers on the acquisition, representation, and processing of sound systems across languages. I aim to formulate hypotheses about the cognitive mechanisms underlying phonological learning and processing by examining cross-linguistic sound patterns. To accomplish this, I conduct experimental studies with human participants and utilize computational modeling techniques to investigate how the human mind encodes and applies phonological structures.

Email: youngah@hku.hk
Tel: 3917 8603
Office: Room 9.18, RRST, Centennial Campus

Jonathan Havenhill

Assistant Professor

Professor Jonathan Havenhill conducts research in phonetics, phonology, language variation and change, and sociophonetics. His research involves the use of ultrasound tongue imaging and other experimental methods to investigate the articulatory configurations that underlie linguistic sound systems.

Email: jhavenhill@hku.hk
Tel: 3917 8285
Office: Room 9.23, RRST, Centennial Campus

Olivia Lam

Lecturer
MA Coordinator

Dr Olivia Lam’s research interests lie mainly in syntax and morphology. Her current interests include the syntax of double object constructions, especially the syntax of the give-construction; and, the cross-linguistic morphological and syntactic properties of objects. She is particularly interested in the morphosyntax of Chinese and African languages. She teaches syntactic theory and morphological theory at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and offers a Common Core course on human language.

Email: osclam@hku.hk
Tel: 3917 2758
Office: Room 9.17, RRST, Centennial Campus

Jesús Olguín-Martinez

Assistant Professor

Professor Jesús Olguín-Martínez earned his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2022. His work bridges Linguistic Typology, Corpus and Cognitive Linguistics, Language Documentation, and Quantitative Linguistics. Using different statistical methods (e.g., multiple correspondence analysis, predictive modeling, hierarchical configurational frequency analysis), he explores constructional families, the interaction of syntax with other grammatical domains in language use, and language contact. His research develops integrative approaches to understanding linguistic diversity and the links between language, social organization, and cognition.

Email: olguin@hku.hk
jesusolguinmartinez – Link in Bio & Creator Tools | Beacons

Mohammad Momenian

Assistant Professor

I have two main research strands as a neurolinguist. One is to look into how language-specific properties have an effect on the neural representation of languages in the brain. The other, more recent, strand focuses on the role of individual differences in modifying age-related decline in language comprehension in the older population. I use different neuroimaging modalities such as EEG and fMRI along with ecologically valid behavioural measurements. Using a multimodal approach, I endeavour to present a thorough picture of the language and brain across the lifespan amid diverse populations.

Email: momenian@hku.hk
Tel: 3917 3624
Office: Room 9.19, RRST, Centennial Campus

Yoonsang Song

Assistant Professor
Undergraduate Coordinator

Yuyan Xue

Research Assistant Professor
Seminar and out-reach coordinator

I 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.

Email: yuyanxue@hku.hk

Kofi Yakpo

Professor
Chairperson

My research revolves around multilingualism, and language contact and change. How, when and why do people use several languages at the same time? How does this change the grammar and lexicon of the languages they use? How do societies handle their multilingual heritage socially and politically? I am currently working on language contact & the emergence of new languages in highly multilingual regions of Africa, the Americas, and the Indian Ocean with a focus on English-lexifier creoles and Asian diaspora languages.

Email: kofi@hku.hk
Tel: 3917 7117
Office: Room 9.15, RRST, Centennial Campus
Walk-in office hours (no appointment required): Tuesdays, 1030-1230