Research Interests

• Phonology

• Tone Sandhi in Chinese dialects (especially Mandarin, Wu and Yue dialects)

• Sound change

Education

2005-2008               Ph.D. , Department of Linguistics, Université Paris 8  

                                • Dissertation title : Marque, registre et contour dans les systèmes tonals en chinois (PDF file)                    

                                • Mention très honorable avec félicitations du jury à l'unanimité (defended on November 18, 2008)

                                • Jury: Joaquim Brandão de Carvalho (advisor,Université Paris 8), Pierre Encrevé (EHESS), Michael Kenstowicz (MIT),

                                    Laurent Sagart (EHESS), Tobias Scheer (Université de Nice), Sophie  Wauquier (Université Paris 8)

2004-2005              DEA, Department of Linguistics, Université Paris 8                                     

                                •Thesis title : Gouvernement, tons modulés et sandhi tonal (PDF file)

• Mention Très Bien

2000-2001               Maîtrise, Department of Linguistics, Université Paris 5                                      

                                •Thesis title : Etude d’une variable linguistique dans le chinois parlé à Taïwan: norme versus identité.

• Mention Très Bien 

1999- 2000              Licence, Department of Linguistics, Université Paris 5  

1994- 1998              B.A., Bachelor of Sociology, National ChengChi University, Taiwan

Fellowships

2009                     Post-doctoral Fellowship, Fondation Fyssen, France

2005-2008            Allocation de recherche & Monitorat, Ministry of Education & CIES, France

Teaching Experience

2006 - 2007: Introduction to Chinese Linguistics (2.5 hours of lectures per week, grading students' homework and reports, hosting discussion sessions with students), Department of Linguistics, Paris 8 University

2007 - 2008: Phonology 1 (3 hours of lectures per week), Department of Linguistics, Paris 8 University

Papers and presentations

2009

Why should Markedness Constraints be Relative? - Four Case Studies in Tone Sandhi Directioonality, In UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report (2009).

Tone Sandhi Directionality and Relative Markedness Constraints (with Joaquim Brandão de Carvalho), paper presented at the Seventeenth Manchester Phonology Meeting,  May 28-30, Manchester, England. Abstract. Handout.

On the Status of Tone in Compensatory Lengthening, talk given at Berkeley Phonetics & Phonology Forum, UC Berkeley,  April 13. Handout.

Compensatory Lengthening is not Specific to Syllabic Positions, In Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Linguists. John Benjamins.

2008

A Fresh Look at the Paradoxical Nature of Chinese Contour Tones, In Blaho, Vicente & Schoorlemmer (eds.). Proceedings  of Console XV.

Directionality and Least Effort Principle in Tianjin, poster presented at the Third TIE Conference on Tone and Intonation,  September 15-17, Lisbon, Portugal. Poster.

Compensatory Lengthening is not Specific to Segments, paper presented at the 18th International Congress of Linguists (CIL18), July 21-26 , Seoul, South Korea. Abstract. Handout.

Directionality and Least Effort Principle in Tianjin, paper presented at the Vingt-deuxièmes Journées de Linguistique de l'Asie Orientale (22nd Paris meeting on East Asian Linguistics),  June 9-10, EHESS, Paris, France. Abstract.

What can a Tonal Template do for Phonetics? paper presented at the Workshop on Templates,  May , Paris, France. Abstract. PowerPoint.

On the Nature of Modified Tones in Cantonese, poster accepted for the XVIII Colloquium on Generative Grammar, April 17-19 , Lisbon, Portugal.

L'allongement compensatoire n'est pas spécifique aux segments, paper  presented at Atelier Doctoral de Linguistique à St Denis, February 22-23, Paris 8 University, France. Abstract. PowerPoint.

Compensatory Lengthening is not Specific to Segments, paper presented at Old World Conference in Phonology 5 (OCP5), January 23-26 , Toulouse, France. Abstract. Handout. PowerPoint.

2007

On the Tonal Asymmetry in the Dialects of the Group Wu: an Input-based View, paper  presented at “Problems with surface-based generalizations” workshop. October 8-9, Paris, France. Abstract. PowerPoint.

Reduplication as Evidence for the Skeletal Nature of Tones, paper  presented at the 5th conference of the European Association of Chinese Linguistics (EACL-5), September 5-7, Leipzig, Germany. Abstract.

Reduplication as Evidence for the Skeletal Nature of Tones, poster presented at the Fifteenth Manchester Phonology Meeting, May 24-26, Manchester, England. Handout.

A Fresh Look at the Paradoxical  Nature of Chinese Contour Tones, paper presented at the Fifteenth Conference of the Student Organization of Linguistics in Europe (ConSOLE), January 11-13, Brussuls, Belgium. Abstract. Powerpoint file.

2006

Register, Contour, and Markedness in Chinese, abstract accepted for the Fourth Conference of the European Association of Chinese Linguistics, Budapest, Hungry. Abstract.

Aspect and Telicity in Mandarin Chinese, paper presented at the Workshop on Formal Syntax and Semantics 4, September 12-14, Université Paris 8, Paris, France.

2005

Register, Contour, and Markedness in Chinese, abstract accepted for the Eleventh Mid-Continental Workshop on Phonology, Michigan, USA.

In preperation

The Phonetics and Phonology of Incomplete Tone Merger in Dalian, Ms., UC Berkeley.

Language Skills

• Native: Mandarin Chinese
• Fluent: French, English
• More advanced: Taiwanese
• Beginner: Cantonese