Hi! My name is Zhang, Yao [tʂɑŋ55 jao35]. You can call me by my full name or Yao. I'm a 4th-year PhD student in the Department of linguistics at Cornell University. I am also a member of the Cornell Phonetics Lab. 

My research interests lie in phonology, phonetics, and historical linguistics. Currently I'm working on Mandarin tone adaptation in Nuosu Yi. I also work on Chinese (Mandarin and Middle Chinese) and IE languages (Kalasha and Khowar).

I got my B.A. in Chinese Classics & Classical Bibiliology and Ph.D. in Chinese Philology & Linguistics at Zhejiang University, China. My disseration, titled A Study of Middle Chinese loanword phonology based on Xuanzang's Transliteration looks at loanword phonology in Tang Dynasty.