“Give us a good IPA and we can read any language in this world”
Calgary Ling Grad Students
Meet Our Postdocs & Grad Students
Mathieu
Paillé
Postdoctoral Fellow
I am a formal semanticist who focuses on semantic strengthening, formal aspects of the meaning of predicates, logical vocabulary, and quantification. I completed my PhD as a Vanier scholar at McGill University in August 2022 and will be working on the acquisition of semantics during my time at the University of Calgary.
Beyond my work in semantics, I’m also interested in syntax, especially with capturing word order variation across languages. I’ve done syntactic or semantic/pragmatic work on the Algonquian language Ojibwe and a couple Austronesian languages (Bahasa Malaysia and Cebuano).
In my spare time I enjoy studying languages, social movement organising, and things like canoeing and skiing. I’m a native French speaker from a minority community in Winnipeg.
For more information on my work, visit my website.
Adam
Daniel
PhD Student
I am Adam Daniel, I’m originally from Georgia where I earned my BA (Hons) in Applied Linguistics from Georgia State University in 2011. Afterward, I spent 4 years teaching ESL in Japan. I arrived at the University of Calgary in 2015 and completed my MA, thesis title: Clipping as Morphology: Evidence from Japanese.
My main research interests and focuses are: morphology, historical linguistics, phonology, Japanese, and Welsh. English is my native language, but I speak Japanese with advanced proficiency, and I have a moderate knowledge of Welsh. Other languages which I have some experience in are: German, French, Italian, Serbian, Mongolian, Cherokee, and Etruscan. Outside of linguistics, I enjoy a lot of around-the-home activities such as cooking, tv/movies, and reading (especially anything sci-fi or fantasy). I also enjoy travel, hiking, photography, and I am looking to get into tennis and/or rock climbing one of these days.
Mahyar
Nakhaei
PhD Student
I am Mahyar Nakhaei and I am very eager to study how pronouns are interpreted across languages and what factors affect their resolution by native speakers of each language. I have also done some research studies on how pronoun resolution might be different between pro-drop languages such as Persian and non-prodrop languages like English. Currently, as my Master’s thesis I am running a study to investigate how individual differences might affect the interpretation of pronouns within a language. I am also planning to study a very particular controversial cliticlike marker (-esh) in Persian from a new perspective in near future.
Kang
Xu
PhD Student
Ni hao! I am Kang Xu, a Ph.D. student in Linguistics. I completed my B.A. at Memorial University of Newfoundland and my M.A. at the University of Western Ontario. My supervisor is Dr. Elizabeth Ritter who is an expert on theoretical syntax. She is also very funny.
My interest is a little divided. I am interested in theoretical syntax, dialects, and sociolinguistics. Currently, I am studying the Mandarin sentence-final Complementizer system and the two-words tone sandhi in Wuhan dialect.
Linguistics aside, I like brisk walking (Marathon style, e.g. 30000 steps). I have a French Bichon whose name is Dot Dot (English translation: little little) and he is getting old.
Jesse
Weir
PhD Student
I’m Jesse. I did a BA Honours in linguistics at the University of Calgary and an MA in linguistics at Simon Fraser University. I’m most interested in syntax, phonetics and psycholinguistics, especially from an experimental perspective. I’m currently pursuing my PhD here at the University of Calgary. I chose to return here because this is one of the few schools in Canada that does experimental syntactic research, and I really wanted to continue to work with Dr. Storoshenko. In my free time, I like to play bass guitar, go to concerts, hike, and spend time with my dogs.
Francisco Ongay
PhD Student
My name is Francisco Ongay González and I am from Mexico. I am a student of the PhD program in Linguistics at the University of Calgary. I completed a BA in Languages at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico and a MA in Hispanic Linguistics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (the largest university in Latin America). My native language is Spanish and I also speak English and French. I have also studied Japanese, Esperanto, Italian and Mexican Sign Language. While I have some experience in language teaching and translation, my main interest is language structure and specifically syntax. In my past studies, I have explored some time expressions in Spanish both in their semantic and syntactic dimensions. Other than languages and linguistics, I like drama and I have even acted in semi-professional theatre back in Mexico. I also like videogames, board games and nature.
Syed
Sazzad
PhD Student
I am a Linguistics PhD student at the University of Calgary. I was first intrigued by linguistics during the final years of my undergraduate in English at Government Hazi Mohammad Mohsin College. Then, I pursued an MA in Linguistics in the US at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) which now brought me here at U of C for the final degree.
As for my research areas and interests, I’m more of a phonetics person in general- with interests in second language (Bengali) segmental transfer and perception based on L2 perception theories like that of Flege. I’m also interested to see how the outcomes in segmental perception relate to the tongue movement as captured in ultrasound during production. More recently, L2 intonation perception, psycho-linguistically, is also an area that I find quite interesting to pursue. Dr. Stephen Winters is my supervisor for the PhD. He is also the director of the Phonetics Lab at the University. I’m also a Teaching Assistant to Dr. Winters.
During leisure, I enjoy movies, cooking, outing, and Badminton. I have entered in a couple of Badminton clubs in Calgary since moving here. I’m also an avid reader of poetry.
Brooklyns
sheppard
PhD Student
My name is Brooklyn and I’m pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Winters. I completed my BA Honours in Linguistics at the University of Calgary where my research focused on the prosodic correlates of sarcasm perception as well as a variety of topics in theoretical syntax (e.g., the syntax of nominals, coordination, etc.). In August 2022, I completed my MSc in Speech & Language Processing at the University of Edinburgh where my coursework focused on speech synthesis, automatic speech recognition, natural language processing, and machine learning. For my MSc dissertation, I explored the acoustic-prosodic effects of incorporating discourse-level information into a text-to-speech (TTS) system.
From my experience with speech perception studies from my undergraduate degree and my experience in quantitative and computational modelling from both my graduate degree, my main research interests involve using computational methods to inform theories of speech perception and production. In my spare time, I love reading, getting out in the mountains, and doing math for fun (yes, really).
ushmum
alam
PhD Student
This is Mir Ushmum Alam from Bangladesh. I completed my graduation and post-graduation in Linguistics from the University of Dhaka -the most prestigious institution in Bangladesh. I have also earned an MS degree in Clinical Linguistics. My M.Phil. research is about ‘Correlating Social Stratification and Bengali Phonology.’ My boundless love for linguistics grabs me here at the University of Calgary. My research interest includes phonology, clinical linguistics, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics. I speak one of the sweetest languages of the world: Bengali. To build up a ‘language lab’ in Bangladesh is one of my dreams.
I am a fun-loving extrovert girl. I love singing and dancing. I love to travel and explore new things. But nowadays ‘sleeping’ is one of my favorite leisure activities
VINCENT
NWOSU
PhD Student
My name is Vincent, a PhD student. I received a BA in English and Literary Studies from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. I moved to the US and received an MA in Linguistics from the University of Delaware. I was in the PhD program there before moving to Calgary to continue my studies with Dr. Darin Flynn.
I am broadly interested in phonological theory and laboratory phonetics. My current focus is on the phonetics phonology interface with tone and the typologies of prosodic systems. I specifically look at tonal and incomplete neutralization, prosody, and speech acoustics. I am also committed to the typology and documentation of endangered and understudied African languages.
Beyond my academic pursuits, I find leisure in watching movies and football (soccer). My favorite team is Chelsea, and I take great pleasure in supporting the team.
Cheryl Iwanchuk
MA Student
I’m Cheryl. I graduated from the University of Calgary with an Honours degree in Linguistics and a minor in speech language sciences, I also previously completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts from U of C.
My research interests are syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and first language acquisition. I’m taking a Masters of Arts in Linguistics. I choose the University of Calgary because the linguistics community at the U of C is supportive and fosters future research and researchers. I wanted to work with the faculty.
My hobbies are vast and ever expanding, but right now I paint, knit, craft. I like to go camping, paddle boarding, canoeing. I have been trying to learn to play the drums for a while, but haven’t had the time. I also really enjoy video games and board games with my friends.
Charys
Russell
MA Student
I’m Charys (pronounced [ˈkʰɛ.ɹɪs]), and I am pursuing an MA in Linguistics at the UofC under Dr. Winters. I graduated with a BA Honours in Linguistics (where I wrote a thesis about the change in stress placement in suffixed words in English over the past two centuries), and I work in the L2+ Sound Learning Lab (which is studying the effects of aural perceptual training on adult learners of German and how it is linked to orthography). My research interests are acoustic phonetics, L2 phonology, and historical English. My native language is Canadian English, and I also speak French, German, and Italian.
In my spare time, you can find me playing disc golf, embroidering, or playing video games.