Professor of Speech Sciences
Speech Hearing and Phonetic Sciences,
Linguistics,
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences,
University College London, UK
Research 
My research is primarily concerned with the basic mechanisms of speech production and perception in connected discourse, especially in terms of how multiple layers of communicative meanings can be encoded through a common process of articulation. In particular, I am interested in the production, perception, typology, and modeling and synthesis of speech prosody, as well as the basic mechanisms of coarticulation. I am also concerned with computational modeling of the neural process of speech acquisition. More recently, I have developed an interest in the understanding of emotional expressions in speech from an evolutionary perspective. For more information, please see my Research page.
New:
- Evoc-Learn: High quality simulation of early vocal learning
- qTAtrainer -- A Praat script for automatic analysis and synthesis of intonation based on the Target Approximation model
- PENTAtrainer -- A set of Praat scripts for automatic analysis and synthesis of intonation based on the PENTA model
- FormantPro -- A Praat script for large-scale systematic analysis of continuous formant movements
Continued:
Publications
New:
- Xu, Y. (2023) Phonetics of Emotion. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Oxford University Press. pdf
- Kang, W. and Xu, Yi. (2024) Tone-syllable synchrony in Mandarin: New evidence and implications. Speech Communication 163: 103121. pdf, open access
- Xu, A., van Niekerk, D. R., Gerazov, B., Krug, P. K., Birkholz, P., Prom-on, S., Halliday, L. F. and Xu, Y. (2024). Artificial vocal learning guided by speech recognition: What it may tell us about how children learn to speak. Journal of Phonetics. pdf, open access
- Xu, Y. (2023) Phonetics of Emotion. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Oxford University Press. pdf
- Liu, Z. and Xu, Y. (2023). Deep learning assessment of syllable affiliation of intervocalic consonants. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 153(2): 848-866. pdf
Copyright (2023) Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America. - Wang, C., Xu, Y., and Zhang, J. (2023). Functional timing or rhythmical timing, or both? — A corpus study of English and Mandarin duration. Frontiers in Psychology 13: 869049. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.869049
Research tools
Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, University College London, London WC1N IPF, UK