Introduction

Hey! I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Linguistics at UC Berkeley, where I am advised by Peter Jenks.

My research interests lie in syntax, semantics/pragmatics, and their interfaces, with a particular focus on definiteness in classifier languages, relative clauses, evidentiality, and rhetorical questions.

I also identify as a fieldworker. In part, this comes from my dual role in my field research: I am, first, a heritage speaker of Zhuang, and second, a researcher drawing on the language resources of my community.

The languages I currently work with include Zhuang (spoken in Guangxi, China; a member of the Tai-Kadai language family), Naxi (spoken in Yunnan, China; a member of the Tibeto-Burman branch), and Tamang (spoken in Nepal; also part of the Tibeto-Burman branch).

My legal name is Huang, Xi, and only in formal contexts I prefer to use the Northern Zhuang romanization Vangz, Hei.