Xinbing Luo

tonal phonology, tone sandhi, implicit learning, connectionist modelling

Biography

I am a third-year PhD student in the Phonetics Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Prof Brechtje Post and Prof John Williams. My research centres on the implicit learning of tonal phonology and connectionist modelling. Prior to embarking on my doctoral study, I obtained an MPhil degree in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics from the University of Cambridge (supervised by Prof Brechtje Post). My MPhil dissertation delved into the implicit learning of tone-segment associations. I also hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Beijing Foreign Studies University (supervised by Dr Ting Zou). My BA thesis looked in the implicit learning of Tianjin Mandarin tone sandhi patterns by Beijing Mandarin speakers. Additionally, I bring valuable experience from the Text-to-Speech (TTS) industry to my academic pursuits.

Research

tone sandhi, implicit learning, cognitive modeling, individual differences, cognitive science of music

Projects

ProsodAI: Neural Encoding of AI-Generated Speech Prosody by L1 and L2 Speakers (Cambridge Language Science Incubator Fund (£ 5000).

Role: Research Assistant (Advanced Data Analyst)
Link: https://www.phonetics.mmll.cam.ac.uk/prosodai-neural-encoding-ai-generat...

ManyTones: Perception of fundamental frequency perturbations across many languages (Big Team Science Project supported by Many Languages)

Role: Project Manager
Link: https://chenchenzi.github.io/manytones/people/
News: https://bsky.app/profile/manylanguagesc.bsky.social/post/3ljaovxl5gs2v

Publications

Key publications:

Luo, X., Williams, J., Post, B. (Revise and Resubmit). Incidental learning of non-native tone sandhi by tone and non-tone L1 speakers. Second Language Research.

Bakkouche, L., Luo, X., Lau, E., Mcghee, C., Cooper, S., Post, B., Alter, K., & Schwarz, J. (Under Review). What determines the success of AI voice-cloned speech? Prosodic and acoustic evidence on three TTS Systems. Phonetica.

Zou, T., & Luo, X. (2025) Implicit Learning of Unfamiliar Tone Sandhi Patterns in Lexical Recognition. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1414732. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1414732

Luo, X., Post, B. (2024) Implicit learning of tone-segment connections by adults with and without tonal language backgrounds. Proc. Speech Prosody 2024, 717-721. http://doi.org/10.21437/SpeechProsody.2024-145

Other publications:

Book Review

Luo, X., & Tian, X. (2025, in press). How language speaks to music: prosody from a cross-domain perspective. Phonetica. https://doi.org/10.1515/phon-2025-0017

Conference Presentations

Luo, X., Williams, J., & Post, B. (2025). Tracking Meaning Through Variation: Cross-Situational Learning of Tonal Words and Underlying Phonological Rules. Cambridge Language Sciences Annual Symposium 2025. Cambridge, UK. [Poster]

Bakkouche, L., McGhee, C., Lau, E., Cooper, S, Luo, X.,
Rees, M., Alter, K., Post, B., Schwarz, J. (2025). Finding the Human Voice in AI: Insights on the Perception of AI-Voice Clones from Naturalness and Similarity Ratings. Interspeech 2025. http://dx.doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WF3HA [Preprint]

罗心冰. (2025) . 声调与非声调母语者对有无语音动机的变调模式的偶然习得 (Incidental learning of non-native (un)phonetically motivated tone sandhi by tone and non-tone L1 speakers). 第二届当代音系学国际研讨会(The 2nd International Symposium on Contemporary Phonology). 成都，中国 (Chengdu, China). [Oral Presentation]

Luo, X., & Shen, L. (2025). Beyond Borders: How well can AI voice cloning produce code-switching and cross-language speech?. UK & Ireland Speech 2025 (UKIS 2025). York, UK. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.35768.25604 [Poster]

Luo, X., Post, B., & Williams, J. (2025, accepted for poster presentation). Incidental learning of non-native tone sandhi by tonal and non-tonal L1 speakers. The 6th Phonetics and Phonology in Europe (PaPE 2025). Palma de Mallorca, Spain. [Poster]

Luo, X., Williams, J., & Post, B. (2024). Incidental learning of phonetically (un) motivated tone sandhi patterns by tonal and non-tonal L1 speakers. Cambridge Language Sciences Annual Symposium 2024, Cambridge, UK. https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2024-xhswk [Poster]

Bakkouche, L., Cooper, S., Luo, X., Rees, M., Lau, E., McGhee, C., Alter, K., Post, B., & Schwarz, J. (2024). Finding the Human Voice in AI: Insights on the Perception of AI-Voice Clones from MUSHRA and Similarity Tests. Cambridge Language Sciences Annual Symposium 2024. Cambridge, UK. https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2024-mvrz5 [Poster]

Bakkouche, L., Cooper, S., Luo, X., Rees, M., Lau, E., McGhee, C., Alter, K., Post, B., & Schwarz, J. (2024). Research plan: Neural encoding of AI-generated speech prosody by L1 and L2 speakers. UK & Ireland Speech Workshop (UKIS 2024). Cambridge, UK. https://ukis2024.eng.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ukis2024-Abstr... [Poster]

Luo, X., & Post, B. (2024). Implicit learning of tone-segment connections. British Association of Academic Phoneticians Colloquium 2024, Cardiff, UK. https://sites.google.com/view/baap-2024/en/programme [Oral Presentation]