Research Interests

Phonetics, phonology, sociolinguistics

Thesis Overview

My DPhil thesis looks at how adult speakers modulate their speech when speaking to a dog. Speakers tend to shift styles in different contexts and toward different recipients, e.g., when addressing young children (Child-directed speech) or pets (Dog-directed speech). I examine the phonetic features, focusing on prosody, and other linguistic variables in dog-directed speech and look at whether the variables of the speakers, including genders, cultures, languages, and different experimental settings and timings, affect the register.

My research scope and interest lie in understanding human vocal behaviour — why we modulate our voices, how it connects to identity, psychology, intention, and social dynamics.

Teaching

Prelims Phonetics and Phonology Tutorials 

Prelims Phonetics and Phonology Lectures: Introduction to Phonology 

Prelims Phonetics and Phonology Lectures: Dynamic Phonetics

Plublications

An Examination of Non-standard Mandarin Varieties in Taiwan: History, Contact Effects and Evolving Attitudes. Language in a Polarised World. Edited by Jaspal Singh, Johannes Angermuller, Michael Kranert. OUP (accepted).

Huang, Y. X. C. (2023). Stylised Tone and Intonation in Dog Directed Speech. In Proc. TAI 2023 (pp. 39-43).