Stephanie Shih

Stephanie Shih is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Southern California. Her research employs computational and quantitative methods to investigate phonological systems and their interfaces with other linguistic domains, particularly morphosyntax and cognition. She directs a research lab focused on modeling language as a cognitive system through data-driven approaches.

Research Focus

Shih's work bridges theoretical linguistics with computational modeling, spanning:

• Phonological theory (tone, harmony, prosody)
• Sound symbolism and cross-modal cognition
• Morphosyntax-phonology interfaces
• Statistical learning of lexical patterns
• Cross-linguistic corpus analysis
• Scientometrics of linguistic scholarship

Her recent publications demonstrate strong emphasis on:

• Empirical studies of sound symbolism across languages (e.g., baseball names, Pokémonastics)
• Computational modeling of phonological variation
• Interface phenomena in Austronesian languages (Tagalog word order)
• Prosodic structure in text-setting (Japanese/English)

No awards or student advisees are documented in available materials.