Jian-Leat Siah

I'm Jian-Leat, a fifth-year PhD Candidate in the Department of Linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). My dissertation is co-advised by Bruce Hayes and Megha Sundara. Other committee members include Kie Zuraw and Sharon Peperkamp. I am also a member of the UCLA Phonetics Lab. 

My research focuses on how cognitive biases (both structural and substantive) shape phonological typology and constrain the learning of phonological patterns. I am also interested in the interface between phonology and morphology, particularly in phenomena such as reduplicative opacity and bracketing paradoxes. To address these questions, I employ a diverse range of methods, including corpus analysis, experimental approaches, computational modeling, and fieldwork on understudied languages. More information about my research can be found here.

Languages I have worked on include Malay (Malayo-Polynesian), Paiwan (Formosan), Kalabakan Murut (Malayo-Polynesian), Bilin (Central Cushitic), Paraguayan Guarani (Tupi-Guarani), San Martín Peras Mixtec (Oto-Manguean), French (Romance) and English (Germanic).