Jennifer Kuo

Jennifer Kuo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Cornell University, specializing in phonology with a focus on morphophonological paradigms, cognitive biases in language learning, and statistical modeling. Her research emphasizes Austronesian languages including Seediq, Malagasy, Māori, and Yongning Na, exploring how paradigm learning interacts with markedness principles and statistical patterns.

She holds a PhD in Linguistics from UCLA (2023) and an MA from the same institution (2020). Her work combines experimental methods (e.g., artificial grammar learning, wug tests), corpus analysis, and computational modeling. She is affiliated with the Cornell Phonetics Lab and has contributed to projects on vowel categorization via clustering algorithms (k-means vs. OPTICS) and acoustic-phonetic analysis of understudied languages.

Her research trends highlight three main areas: 1) the interplay between markedness and frequency in paradigm reanalysis, 2) computational approaches to linguistic data classification, and 3) cross-linguistic studies of morphophonological patterns in Austronesian languages. Recent work examines Samoan consonant alternations, Malagasy weak stems, and Māori passive allomorphy through these lenses.

Kuo teaches courses in phonetics, phonology, and research methods at both undergraduate and graduate levels, including LING 3302 (Phonetics/Phonology), LING 6601 (Phonological Theory), and directed research seminars. She actively collaborates on projects involving vowel length, glottalization, and language documentation, with presentations at venues like WCCFL, NELS, and AFLA.