As a long-term affiliated student with the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, I was invited to contribute a short article in celebration of the department’s 10th anniversary. This gave me an extraordinary opportunity to look back at the six years I spent at the department.
I came to CUHK to study linguistics as an undergraduate in 2007. Back then, the department’s faculty was mainly made up of theoretical linguists, in fact, very passionate ones. They taught me how to study natural languages, looking at syntax, semantics, phonology, phonetics, and other aspects. They also inspired me to ask questions about why natural languages should be the way they are. In the second year of my training, I was very lucky to meet my B.A. thesis advisor, Candice Cheung, in the morphology course she offered. She not only encouraged me to write a thesis on negative words in Cantonese, but also urged me to submit the thesis to a conference on Yue dialects for presentation. The process of research, writing, and sharing stimulated my interest in linguistics. By the time I was ready to graduate, I realized that I wanted not only the graduation certificate but also answers to my unresolved research questions. Therefore, I decided to go to the graduate school.
I was admitted to the two-year M.Phil program in linguistics in 2011. Those two years were short but very fruitful. The first year was devoted to the coursework. Although I was not taking as many classes as in the undergraduate program, the classes were much more intensive and demanding. The real challenges came in the second year. I had to write a thesis on a theoretically and empirically challenging phenomenon in Mandarin, known as parasitic gaps, in less than a year’s time. In addition, I had to apply for overseas PhD programs to broaden my linguistic training. The two tasks were both very time-consuming. I would not have accomplished any of them on time if not for the support of my teachers and friends at CUHK. Among them, I am especially thankful to my advisor Candice Cheung. My thesis greatly benefited from her expertise in syntax; her constant support freed me from intense stress and worries; her guidance in my PhD application, together with the help of Lawrence Cheung and Virginia Yip, helped me get into Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, to study linguistics.
Six years have gone by since I came to the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages. With the help of all my teachers and friends, I was enlightened, trained, transformed and improved. I believed CUHK linguistics has also undergone a similar course of development to become a better and stronger department. I am looking forward to its fascinating developments in the next 10 years.