Phonetics Lab researchers Annabelle di Lustro, Fengyue (Lisa) Zhao, and Chloe (Dokyung) Kwon presented four posters/papers at the 190th Meeting the Acoustical Society of America, held May 11-15, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA.  Their presentation and poster titles are listed below.

And following the ASA meeting, we learned that Chloe was awarded the Early Career Presenter Award in Computational Acoustics!

This prize recognizes excellent research and presentations skills from early-stage acousticians during the Technical Committee on Computational Acoustics sessions, and comes with a $250 USD prize. 

Photos:

Top - Chloe (Dokyung) Kwon. 

Middle from left:  Annabelle di Lustro, Annabelle di Lustro & Fengyue (Lisa) Zhou; Fengyue (Lisa) Zhou

Bottom from left:  Annabelle di Lustro, Fengyue (Lisa) Zhou

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ASA Paper:

Temporal localization of morphologically-conditioned stop categories in Korean: A computational approach, by Chloe D. Kwon and Fengyue (Lisa) Zhao (Cornell University) - Presented as a Contributed Paper at the Computational Acoustics: General Topics in Computational Acoustics Session.

ASA Posters:

Laryngeal devoicing gestures observed using transverse-oriented ultrasound, by Dr. Mark Tiede (Yale University), Fengyue (Lisa) Zhao, Dr. Sam Tilsen (Cornell University), Dr. Laura Koenig (Adelphi University) and Dr. D. Whalen (CUNY Graduate Center).  Presented at the Speech Communication: Production & Articulation Poster Session (which was chaired by Phonetics Lab Alumnus Dr. Margaret Renwick of Johns Hopkins University)

Laryngeal elevation in native and non-native lexical tone production, by Fengyue (Lisa) Zhao and Dr. Sam Tilsen (Cornell University) and Dr. Mark Tiede (Yale University)
Presented at the Speech Communication: Acoustics Voice Quality and Prosody Poster Session.

Prosodically-conditioned temporal variation in whispered versus normal speech, by Annabelle Rose di Lustro and Dr. Sam Tilsen (Cornell University)
Presented at the Speech Communication: Acoustics Voice Quality and Prosody Poster Session.

On Friday, May 8, 2026, PhD Candidate John Starr successfully defended his dissertation:  Dynamic Interaction of Linguistic Streams During Processing - see the abstract below.

John is shown here with his dissertation committee -from the left, chair Dr. Marten van Schijndel, John Starr,  and committee members Dr. Jennifer Kuo, Dr. Helena Aparicio, and on zoom Dr. Draga Zec.

Abstract:

It is well-established that people construct representations at multiple levels when processing linguistic input: for example, during and after reading "Where is my Capybara?", people develop phonological, syntactic, semantic, and discourse representations of the sentence and its components.

The primary focus of this thesis is understanding how people contextually use and prioritize these levels of representations, or streams, during both on-line and off-line processing. Through experiments on three phenomena (phonotactic distinctions, word order preferences for binomials, and rhyme), I show how these streams interface with one another, focusing on how phonological information is incorporated with linguistic structures that are more commonly studied in the sentence processing literature.

Broadly, my findings support a model of sentence processing that allows for dynamic, incremental interactions between levels of linguistic structure.

On March 24, 2026 PhD Candidate Chloe Dokyung Kwon successfully defended her dissertation:   Korean word-medial stops and compound tensification: Acoustic and perceptual studies - see the abstract below. 

Chloe is shown here with her dissertation committee - co-chairs Drs. Sam Tilsen and Abby Cohn, and committee member Dr. John Whitman on Zoom.

Abstract:

This dissertation investigates word-medial stop realization in Korean through the lens of compound tensification — a process whereby a plain stop at the onset of the second noun in a noun-noun compound often surfaces as tense — through a production study of 32 speakers and a perception study of 94 listeners.

Acoustic analyses reveal that derived tense stops converge categorically on underlying tense stops rather than approximating them gradually, and that word-medial stop contrasts are maintained primarily through closure duration rather than the F0 and voice quality cues that predominate word-initially, suggesting a redistribution of acoustic correlates rather than positional weakening or merger. Listeners likewise rely on closure duration when categorizing medial stops; confidence ratings suggest sensitivity to phonological context, though this does not alter cue weighting.

Together, these findings disentangle categoriality and gradience in phonetic realization from variability, demonstrate that individual speaker variation is highly systematic and likely tracked by listeners, and suggest that positional differences in stop realization reflect differences in gestural timing relations rather than weakening or neutralization.

Dr. John Whitman - Professor of Linguistics and a Phonetics Laboratory faculty member - has received a Cornell University Provost Award for Teaching Excellence in Graduate and Professional Degree Programs. 

This award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a record of teaching excellence at the graduate level that spans at least the past five years, and the nomination process includes letters of support from both faculty and students.

A former student described Whitman’s knowledge of linguistics as “seemingly infinite.”

In his nearly 40 years on the Cornell faculty, Whitman has provided deep knowledge and expertise in the classroom and as an adviser and mentor.

“In addition to his excellence in syntactic theory, Dr. Whitman’s dedication – especially with under-documented and endangered Indigenous languages – greatly enriches the available coursework within Cornell’s Department of Linguistics,” a current Ph.D. candidate wrote. “It was this work and support that helped me decide to attend Cornell instead of other top linguistic programs.”

As an adviser, Whitman is insightful and demanding, yet supportive and generous with his time. He connects students with other scholars in the field and readily writes letters of recommendation, provides thoughtful feedback and encourages students as they set out in their careers, nominators wrote.

“In both his teaching and advising, Professor Whitman exemplifies the best of graduate education,” a student wrote. “His ability to present complex materials clearly, foster independent thinking, and engage students with genuine intellectual curiosity makes him an exceptional teacher and mentor.”