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SZETO Pui Yiu 司徒沛嶢
/si˥tʰou˨˩ pʰuy˧ jiu˨˩/

Department of Asian and North African Studies
Ca' Foscari University of Venice

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Research output

I am currently Research Assistant Professor (Ricercatore A) at the Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice. I earned my PhD in Linguistics from The University of Hong Kong, supervised by Prof. Stephen Matthews and Prof. Umberto Ansaldo. I am also affiliated with the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre (co-directed by Prof. Virginia Yip and Prof. Stephen Matthews).

My research interests lie primarily in language contact and linguistic typology, and the interface between them. I study contact phenomena both at an individual (bi/multilingual development) and communal level. I am particularly interested in areal linguistics, contact-induced grammaticalization, as well as the interplay between linguistic and social factors in the emergence and evolution of contact varieties, including but not limited to pidgin and creole languages. I focus on contact scenarios involving typologically and/or genetically distinct languages, especially those spoken in China and other parts of East and Southeast Asia. Above all, I specialize in the grammatical diversity of Sinitic languages.

Research output

Journal articles

  1. Yurayong, Chingduang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2023. Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia. Journal of Language and Culture 42(2). 78–114. Link

  2. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2023. On the raison d’être of the notion of Sprachbund, with special reference to languages in China. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 51(3). 692–705. Link

  3. Lu, Wen & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2023. Polyfunctionality of ‘give’ in Hui varieties of Chinese: A typological and areal perspective. Languages 8(3). 217. Link

  4. Brombal, Daniele, Pui Yiu Szeto & Sergio Conti. 2023. Unveiling the language of ideology in China’s environmental planning: Pilot ecolinguistic analysis of an environmental impact assessment. Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale 59. Link

  5. Lin, Shuhan & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2023. Disposal constructions in Chaoshan Southern Min: An apparent time study of the Chenghai dialect. Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale 52(1). 100–131. Link

  6. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong. 2022. Establishing a Sprachbund in the Western Lingnan region: Conceptual and methodological issues. Folia Linguistica 56(1). 25–55. Link

  7. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2021. Revisiting the Amdo Sprachbund: Genes, languages, and beyond. Himalayan Linguistics 20(3). 123–145. Link

  8. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong. 2021. Sinitic as a typological sandwich: Revisiting the notions of Altaicization and Taicization. Linguistic Typology 25(3). 551599. Link

  9. Yurayong, Chingduang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2020. Altaicization and de-Altaicization of Japonic and Koreanic. International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics 2(1). 108–148. Link

  10. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong. 2019. 东亚海岸语言区域及群体制图 [Mapping linguistic areas and populations in Coastal East Asia]. 汉语史与汉藏语研究 [Chinese History and the Study of Sino-Tibetan Languages] 5. 26–45. Link

  11. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Jackie Yan-ki Lai & Umberto Ansaldo. 2019. Creole typology is analytic typology. Language Ecology 3(1). 89–119. Link

  12. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip. 2019. Bilingual children as “laboratories” for studying contact outcomes: Development of perfective aspect. Linguistics 57(3). 693–723. Link

  13. ​Szeto, Pui Yiu, Umberto Ansaldo & Stephen Matthews. 2018. Typological variation across Mandarin dialects: An areal perspective with a quantitative approach. Linguistic Typology 22(2). 233–275. Link

  14. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2018. Perfective ‘already’ in Cantonese-English bilingual children: A case of relabeling or grammaticalization? LECT 1. 1–20. Link

  15. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip. 2017. Multiple correspondence and typological convergence in contact-induced grammaticalization: Evidence from Cantonese-English bilingual development. Journal of Language Contact 10(3). 485–518. Link

Book

  1. Szeto, Pui Yiu (under contract). Language contact and areal convergence: Typological change in China and beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Book chapters

  1. Ansaldo, Umberto & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2020. Pidgin and Creole ecology and evolution. In Umberto Ansaldo & Miriam Meyerhoff (eds.), The Routledge handbook of Pidgin and Creole languages, 504–519. Abingdon: Routledge. Link

  2. Ansaldo, Umberto, Walter Bisang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2018. Grammaticalization in isolating languages and the notion of complexity. In Heiko Narrog & Bernd Heine (eds.), Grammaticalization from a typological perspective, 219–234. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Link

Proceedings papers

  1. Yurayong, Chingduang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2020. A parallelism in the postverbal auxiliary verb constructions in languages of Northeast and Southeast Asia. In А. Ю. Вихрова [A. Y. Vikhrova] (ed.), Языки стран Дальнего Востока, Юго–Восточной Азии и Западной Африки: материалы XIV Международной научной конференции [Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Languages of the Far East, Southeast Asia and West Africa (LESEWA-XIV)], 60–66. Moscow: Key-C Publishing House. Link

  2. Yurayong, Chingduang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2020. (De-)Altaicisation as convergence and divergence between Japonic and Koreanic languages. In Michael Barrie (ed.), Japanese/Korean Linguistics, vol. 27. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications. Link

  3. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2015. Classification of Yue and Pinghua: A lexicostatistical approach. In Jingtao Sun & Carine Yuk-man Yiu 孙景涛、姚玉敏 (eds.), 第十八届国际粤方言研讨会论文集 [Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Yue Dialects], 278–297. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press.

  4. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2014. Supporting evidence for language polygenesis from Neanderthal-human interbreeding. In Erica A. Cartmill, Sean Roberts, Heidi Lyn & Hannah Cornish (eds.), The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference (EVOLANG10), 302–309. Singapore: World Scientific. Link

Conference presentations

  1. Conti, Sergio, Laura Locatelli & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2023. La lingua dei report ESG sulla sostenibilità delle aziende cinesi quotate: Un’analisi preliminare corpus-assisted secondo la prospettiva ecolinguistica [The language of ESG sustainability reports of Chinese listed companies: A preliminary corpus-assisted analysis from an ecolinguistic perspective]. Paper presented at XIX Convegno AISC 2023. Sapienza University of Rome. 21–23 September.

  2. Yurayong, Chingduang, Sami Honkasalo, Pui Yiu Szeto, Charlotte Ye Xu, Andrew Logie, Utain Wongsathit, Sombat Mangmeesukhsiri, Kangvol Khatshima, Youngchan Oh, Ohyoung Kwon, Junyoung Park & Cheunsoo Park. 2023. An archaeolinguistic approach to Indianisation and Sinicisation of languages in Eastern Eurasia. Paper presented at the 26th International Conference on Historical Linguistics (ICHL26). Heidelberg University, 4–8 September.

  3. Honkasalo, Sami, Chingduang Yurayong & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2023. Quantification of verbal events: A new perspective for studyingconvergence and divergenceacross Altaic languages. Paper presented at 65th Annual Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference (PIAC). Nazarbayev University, 31 July–3 August.

  4. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2023. Beyond Altaicization and Taicization: A quantitative approach to the study of Sinitic typology. Paper presented at the International Workshop on Chinese Dialect Grammar in Typological Perspective. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 27–28 April.

  5. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong. 2023. Dissecting Altaicization and Tibetanization in Amdo-Mandarin. Paper presented at the International Conference on Chinese Language Contact and Typology. The Education University of Hong Kong, 24–25 March.

  6. Conti, Sergio, Pui Yiu Szeto & Daniele Brombal. 2022. Exploratory design of an ecological discourse analysis framework for Chinese environmental texts. Paper presented at the Sixth International Conference on Ecolinguistics (ICE-6). University of Graz. 21–24 September.

  7. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Shuhan Lin. 2022. Functional range of disposal markers in Chaoshan Southern Min. Paper presented at the 7th edition of the Study days on Chinese Linguistics of the Italian Association of Chinese Linguistics (AILC 2022). University of Bergamo. 9–10 September.

  8. Conti, Sergio, Pui Yiu Szeto & Daniele Brombal. 2022. Exploratory design of an ecological discourse analysis framework for Chinese environmental texts. Paper presented at the 7th edition of the Study days on Chinese Linguistics of the Italian Association of Chinese Linguistics (AILC 2022). University of Bergamo. 9–10 September.

  9. Lu, Wen & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2022. Grammaticalization of ‘give’ in Hui varieties of Chinese: A typological and areal perspective. Paper presented at the 35th Paris Meeting on East Asian Linguistics (JLAO 35). Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l’Asie Orientale. 7–9 July.

  10. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Shuhan Lin. 2022. Disposal construction in Chenghai Southern Min: Age-related variation and beyond. Paper presented at the 11th International Conference of the European Association of Chinese Linguistics (EACL-11). Palacký University Olomouc. 12 July.

  11. Conti, Sergio, Pui Yiu Szeto & Daniele Brombal. 2022. Exploratory design of an ecological discourse analysis framework for Chinese environmental texts. Paper presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Chinese Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (ISOCTAL-4). University of Leeds. 2021 June.

  12. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Ziyin Mai, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip. 2022. Verbal inflection in heritage bilinguals’ English: Parallels with East and Southeast Asian contact languages. Paper presented at the Workshop on Population Movements, Language Contact in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and Evolutionary Linguistics. The Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex | The Francis and Rose Yuen Campus, 8–11 June.

  13. Shi, Yijun & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2022. Modern diglossia in Chongqing:Stability and changePaper presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-28). The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 2022 May.

  14. Yurayong, Chingduang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2022. A typological split of Tai-Kadai languagesalong political and natural borders. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-28). The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 20–22 May.

  15. Lin, Shuhan & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2021. Expressing displacement in Chaoshan Min: Competition between constructions of different marking strategiesPaper presented at the 34th Paris Meeting on East Asian Linguistics (JLAO 34). Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l’Asie Orientale. 7–9 July.

  16. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip. 2021. Optional verbal inflection in Chinese English heritage bilingual children’s English and East/Southeast Asian creoles. Paper presented at the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics (SPCL) 2021 Winter Conference. 8–9 January.

  17. Yurayong, Chingduang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2020. A parallelism in the postverbal auxiliary verb constructions in languages of Northeast and Southeast Asia. Paper presented at the 14th International Conference on the Languages of the Far East, Southeast Asia and West Africa (LESEWA-XIV). Lomonosov Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University, 23–24 November.

  18. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2020. Identifying a linguistic area in the Lingnan region: Evidence from Yue dialects and beyond. Paper presented at the 24th International Conference on Yue Dialects. University of Macau, 1314 November.

  19. Zhou, Jiangling & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2020. On the post-verbal KEOI in Cantonese and other Yue dialects. Paper presented at the 24th International Conference on Yue Dialects. University of Macau, 1314 November.

  20. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2019. Typological variation across Sinitic languages: Contact and convergence. Paper presented at the LSHK Annual Research Forum 2019. The Education University of Hong Kong, 7 December.

  21. Yurayong, Chingduang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2019. (De-)Altaicisation as convergence and divergence between Japonic and Koreanic languages. Poster presented at the 27th Japanese/Korean Linguistics Conference. Sogang University, 18–20 October.

  22. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong. 2019. Mutual convergence between the Sinitic and Tai-Kadai languages in Southern China. Paper presented at the 29th Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (SEALS 29). Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 27–29 May.

  23. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong. 2019. Sinicization of the Tai-Kadai minority languages in China: A typological survey. Paper presented at the Workshop on Linguistic Minorities in Asia. The Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex | The Francis and Rose Yuen Campus, 22–23 March.

  24. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong. 2018. Mapping linguistic areas and populations in Coastal East Asia. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference in Evolutionary Linguistics (CIEL-10). Nanjing University, 27–28 October.

  25. Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong. 2018. Typological variation across Sinitic in relation to its neighboring languages. Paper presented at the 10th international conference of the European Association of Chinese linguistics (EACL-10). University of Milan and University of Milano-Bicocca, 28–29 September.

  26. Yurayong, Chingduang & Pui Yiu Szeto. 2018. Areal tendency, diachrony and learnability of the East Asian phonologies. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Phonology and Morphology. Seoul National University, 29–30 June.

  27. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Umberto Ansaldo & Stephen Matthews. 2017. Mandarin typology: An areal perspective with a quantitative approach. Paper presented at the 12th Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology (ALT 2017). Australian National University, 10–15 December.

  28. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2017. Typological variation across Mandarin dialects: An areal perspective. Paper presented at the 9th International Conference in Evolutionary Linguistics (CIEL-9). Yunnan Minzu University, 25–27 August.

  29. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip. 2017. The transient use of perfective already in Cantonese-English bilingual children: Developmental asynchrony and typological incompatibility. Poster presented at the 14th International Congress for the Study of Child Language (IASCL 2017). University Lyon 2, 17–21 July.

  30. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2017. Bilingual development and creole genesis: Emergence of perfective aspect. Poster presented at the UChicago Linguistic Research Forum. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 17–18 March.

  31. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip. 2016. Development of perfective aspect in contact scenarios: Insights from bilingual acquisition. Paper presented at Language Contact in Asia and the Pacific. University of Macau, 14–15 September.

  32. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip. 2015. The emergence of perfective aspect in Cantonese-English bilingual children as a case of contact-induced grammaticalization. Paper presented at the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics (SPCL) 2015 Winter Conference in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America 89th Annual Meeting (LSA Annual Meeting 2015). Portland, Oregon, 9–11 January.

  33. Szeto, Pui Yiu, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip. 2014. The emergence of already in Cantonese-English bilingual children: A case of contact-induced grammaticalization. Paper presented at the 6th International Conference in Evolutionary Linguistics (CIEL-6). Xiamen University, 21–23 November.

  34. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2014. Supporting Evidence for language polygenesis from Neanderthal-human interbreeding. Poster presented at the 10th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (EVOLANG X). University of Vienna, 14–17 April.

  35. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2013. Classification of Yue and Pinghua: A lexicostatistical approach. Paper presented at the 18th International Conference on Yue Dialects. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 7–8 December.

  36. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2013. The limited value of Swadesh word lists in language classification. Paper presented at the 7th Annual International Free Linguistics Conference (FLC 2013). Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 27–28 September.

  37. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2013. Interbreeding between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals – Its implications for language evolution. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference in Evolutionary Linguistics (CIEL-5). The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 17–19 August.

Theses

  1. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2019. Typological variation across Sinitic languages: Contact and convergence. Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong PhD thesis. Link
    Supervisors: Prof. Stephen Matthews, Prof. Umberto Ansaldo

  2. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2015. The emergence of perfective aspect in Cantonese-English bilingual children: Bilingual development and language contact. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong MPhil thesis. Link
    Supervisor: Prof. Virginia Yip

  3. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2012. A comparative study on the use of qishi in Hong Kong Chinese, Mainland Chinese, and Taiwanese Chinese. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong MA thesis.
    Supervisor: Prof. Lawrence Yam-leung Cheung

  4. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2010. Origins of language in relation to sexual selection. Edinburgh: The University of Edinburgh MSc thesis. Link
    Supervisor: Prof. James Hurford

Others

  1. Szeto, Pui Yiu. 2019. Mandarin dialects: Unity in diversity. Unravel: The Accessible Linguistics Magazine 14. Link

Teaching

As an instructor

Ca' Foscari University of Venice

(UG) Cantonese Language (202324)

(PG) Ecolinguistics for Sustainability Science and Practice (2022–24)

(PG) Environmental Humanities and Ecolinguistics in China (2022–24)

The University of Hong Kong

(UG) Languages of China (2021–22)

(UG) Sociolinguistics (2020–22)

(PG) Language Types and Universals (2020–21)

University of Helsinki

(UG/PG) Variation across Chinese Dialects (2018–19)

As a tutor

The University of Hong Kong

(UG) The Life and Death of Languages: Diversity, Identity and Globalization (2019–20)

(UG) Language Evolution (2018–19)

(UG) Introduction to Language (2016–17)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

(PG) Topics in Sociolinguistics (2014–15)

(PG) Topics in Bilingualism (2013–14)

(PG) Foundations in Language Acquisition (2012–15)

(UG) Exploring Grammar: English (2012–13)

Thesis supervision

The University of Hong Kong

(MA) Zheng, Zhiwei. 2023. Language contact in Dongtou: Dongtou Southern Min and Wenzhou Wu.

(MA) Huang, Xuxing. 2022. An ecological discourse analysis of news on the COVID-19 pandemic.

(MA) Chung, Ka Fai. 2021. Languages in Far Southern China: A typological overview.

(MA) Lin, Shuhan. 2021. Disposal construction in the Chenghai dialect of Chaoshan.

Invited talks

  1. Reexamining the position of Cantonese within the Mainland Southeast Asian linguistic area. Invited seminar at the Center for Chinese Linguistics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 6 December 2023.

  2. The Sinitic Sandwich: Quantitative studies in areal typology of Sinitic from the Trans-Eurasian perspective. Invited speech at the ERC-TRAM workshop. Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, 24 November 2023.

  3. Beyond Altaicization and Taicization: A quantitative approach to the study of Sinitic typology. Invited Speech at the International Workshop on Chinese Dialect Grammar in Typological Perspective. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 28 April 2023.

  4. Dissecting Altaicization and Tibetanization in Amdo-Mandarin. Invited Speech at the International Conference on Chinese Language Contact and Typology. The Education University of Hong Kong, 25 March 2023.

  5. Typological variation across Sinitic languages, with a focus on the convergence phenomena in the Lingnan region. CPCE Research Seminar, College of Professional and Continuous Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 20 March 2023.

  6. Verbal inflection in heritage bilinguals’ English: Parallels with East and Southeast Asian contact languages. Invited Speech at the Workshop on Population Movements, Language Contact in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and Evolutionary Linguistics. The Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex | The Francis and Rose Yuen Campus, 10 June 2022.

  7. Language contact among Chinese, Tai-Kadai and other Mainland Southeast Asian languages (with a focus on the Lingnan region). Seminar in Chinese linguistics, Mahidol University, 11 November 2021.

  8. Language Convergence between Chinese and Tai-Kadai in Lingnan Region, Southern China. Online Global Campus 2021: New Perspectives on Asia, Mahidol University and University of Helsinki, 14 September 2021.

  9. Historical Chinese linguistics. Seminar in comparative and historical linguistics, Mahidol University, 26 February 2021.

  10. A quantitative-typological approach to East Asian phonologies. Seminar in Southeast Asian Linguistics, Mahidol University, 3 February 2021.

  11. Identifying a linguistic area in the Lingnan region: Evidence from Yue dialects and beyond. Invited Speech at the 24th International Conference on Yue Dialects, University of Macau, 13 November 2020.

  12. Typological variation across Sinitic languages: Contact and convergence. Outstanding Thesis Award Presentation at the LSHK Annual Research Forum 2019, The Education University of Hong Kong, 7 December 2019.

  13. Grammaticalization in multilingual settings: From Cantonese-English bilingual children to Southeast Asian creoles. Department of Linguistics Seminar Series, The University of Hong Kong, 13 April 2017.

Service

Organizer

International Workshop on Chinese Dialect Grammar in Typological Perspective. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 27–28 April 2023.

Guest editor

Languages (Special Issue "Typology of Chinese Languages: One Name, Many Languages")

Reviewer

Books/Journals

Asian Languages and Linguistics
Chinese Linguistics in Italy (Bologna University Press)
Himalayan Linguistics
Journal of Historical Linguistics

Journal of Language and Culture
Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages

Languages
Open Research Europe

Conferences

Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology

International Conference of the European Association of Chinese Linguistics
International Conference on Yue Dialects

Study Days on Chinese Linguistics

About me

I'm usually referred to as "Szeto" (which is my surname) by my friends. Born and raised in Hong Kong, I speak Cantonese as my native language. Apart from linguistics, I had a strong interest in exercise science. I am an NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Besides, I am a "retired" freelance translator with a Diploma in Translation (DipTrans) certificate awarded by the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL). I also enjoy travelling around the world, immersing myself in different tongues and cuisines.

 

 

Teaching
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About me
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