I work on morphosyntax, discourse pragmatics, and language documentation. I’m drawn to what falls outside established norms: linguistic phenomena that challenge existing theories, language varieties marginalized by standardization, and people whose experiences are overlooked or constrained by prevailing norms. Across research, teaching, and community collaboration, I question established assumptions and work to create space for underrepresented languages, perspectives, and experiences. For a full record of my publications, presentations, teaching, and service, see my CV.
Research
I look at language from three angles: what grammar does at the edges of our theories, how under-resourced languages can be documented and sustained, and whose language experience is represented in research. The projects below are connected, but each also stands on its own.
01 Theoretical Linguistics
Affective Meaning and the Grammar of Emotion
How does grammar encode emotion, and how are emotional expressions shaped by the speakers' relationship, experiences, and knowledge? I study affective verbal suffixes in Andean languages, currently focusing on Quechua -ri in Central Andean oral stories.
Zhong, Juan & Gladys Camacho-Rios. 2026. Unlocking evaluative verb morphology in a Central Andean oral story. Paper presented at Unlocking Evaluative Morphology II: Semantic values and pragmatic motivations, 20–22 April 2026, Alicante, Spain. Abstract
Camacho-Rios, Gladys & Juan Zhong. In preparation. Affective verbal suffix -ri in Central Andean oral stories.
Morphosyntax/Semantics Interface and Dish Names
How do languages package complex concepts into single word-like expressions? My qualifying paper examines the structure and meaning of Mandarin dish names, treating them as a specialized-domain grammar and asking what they reveal about the architecture of language.
Zhong, Juan & Jean-Pierre Koenig. 2026. The grammar of dish names in Mandarin Chinese. Paper presented at The 33rd International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar, 3–4 August 2026, Bergen, Norway. Abstract
Information Structure and Focus Constructions
How do interlocutors manage each other's attention in conversation? I have explored focus constructions in Mandarin, Hakka, Cantonese, Gan, Xiang, Min, Wu, Jin, Yucatec Maya, and Bimoba.
02 Language Documentation & Resources
Anyuan Hakka
Anyuan Hakka is my native language. Since 2021, I have led AYHAK, a community-based project to document, analyze, and revitalize it. My linguistic work includes a phonetic description of the language, in preparation as an IPA illustration.
Zhong, Juan, Tianle Yang & Matthew Faytak. In preparation. Anyuan Hakka: An IPA illustration.
Zhong, Juan. 2026. Anyuan Hakka documentation project. Paper presented at 4to Coloquio Internacional de Lingüística en Bolivia, 20–21 March 2026, La Paz, Bolivia. [Presented in Anyuan Hakka] Abstract
Quechua & Aymara
I work with oral stories and fieldwork data from Quechua and Aymara in Bolivia, contributing to collaborative research on affect and storytelling in Andean languages led by Gladys Camacho-Rios. My own questions here include when locative arguments take accusative case and how Quechua varieties form nominal compounds.
Zhong, Juan & Gladys Camacho-Rios. 2026. Explaining accusative case marking on locative arguments in South Bolivian Quechua. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 11(1): 6105. Paper (DOI)
Zhong, Juan & Gladys Camacho-Rios. 2026. Explaining accusative case marking on locative arguments in South Bolivian Quechua. Paper presented at The 2026 LSA Annual Meeting, 8–11 January 2026, New Orleans, United States. Slides
Zhong, Juan. 2025. Nominal compounding: A comparative analysis of South Bolivian Quechua and Tarma Quechua. Invited talk, Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de la Carrera de Lingüística e Idiomas, UMSA, 10 January 2025, La Paz, Bolivia. Slides
Akobundu, U., J. Baiz, G. Camacho-Rios, X. Lin, N. Silvestre-Cruz, S. Spies, G. Townes & J. Zhong. 2025. Complex consonant clusters in the morphotactics of Southern Bolivian Aymara verbs. Paper presented at Second Annual Meeting of Phonetics/Phonology in Upstate New York (PHUNY 2), 3 May 2025, Buffalo, United States.
Balti
A systematic overview of quantification in Balti, a western Tibetic language, based on elicitation with a native speaker.
Zhong, Juan. 2021. Quantifiers in Balti. Unpublished course paper, Language Documentation & Field Methods, Columbia University. Available upon request.
03 Language, Identity & Access
Chinese Queer Corpus
I co-develop the Chinese Queer Corpus, a Mandarin speech corpus of speakers who self-identify as diverse gender or sexualities. Responsible data governance is part of its design: researchers access the data through a data use agreement, balancing open research with the protection of speakers.
Migrant Children and Language Education
In Beijing, I designed after-school language programs for children of migrant workers and worked as a research assistant on the 2019 Blue Book of Migrant Children Education in China (21st Century Education Research Institute).
Zhong, Juan. 2019. A task-based program for teaching English to children of migrant workers in Beijing. Paper presented at The 8th International Conference on Task-Based Language Teaching, 19–21 August 2019, Ottawa, Canada.
04 Earlier Research
Chinese Pedagogy
Zhong, Juan. 2019. Chinese demonstrative gāi: A linguistic investigation and its pedagogical implications. Paper presented at The 5th International Forum on Linguistics and Chinese Education (IFOLCE-5), 4–7 October 2019, New York, United States. Abstract
Hu, Lingjun & Juan Zhong. 2019. Discovering the strategies for written corrective feedback in Chinese language teaching: Insights from 3rd year CIB program. Paper presented at The 2019 Annual Conference of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), 5–7 April 2019, Seattle, United States.
Old Chinese
Early Chinese texts, read as a linguist and as a translator, including Gu Jiegang's 1923 letter that launched the "layered formation of ancient Chinese history" thesis.
Zhong, Juan. 2020. The Chuju 楚居 narrative: A structural analysis. Course presentation, Columbia University. Slides
Gu, Jiegang 顧頡剛. 1923. Discussing ancient history with Mr. Qian Xuantong 與錢玄同先生論古史書. Annotated English translation by Juan Zhong, 2020. Selected Readings in Early Chinese, Columbia University. Translation (PDF)
Teaching
Instructor
Instructor of record, Language, Society, and the Individual (2026 Fall & 2025 Spring), Department of Linguistics, University at Buffalo, SUNY.
Instructor of record, Introduction to Linguistic Analysis (2024 Fall), Department of Linguistics, University at Buffalo, SUNY.
Guest lecturer, Languages in East Asia (October 15), for Languages of the World instructed by Dr. Gladys Camacho-Rios (2025 Fall), Department of Linguistics, University at Buffalo, SUNY.
Adjunct Lecturer, First Year Chinese II (2022 Spring) and Third Year Chinese N (2021 Fall), Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University.
Lecturer, Elementary Mandarin Chinese for English speakers (2018), School of International Education, Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Teaching Assistant
Language, Society, and the Individual instructed by Brian Hayden (2024 Spring), Department of Linguistics, University at Buffalo, SUNY.
Introduction to Linguistic Analysis instructed by Dr. EunHee Lee (2023 Fall), Department of Linguistics, University at Buffalo, SUNY.
First Year Chinese N I–II, Third Year Chinese N I–II, Fourth Year Chinese Adv I, Fifth Year Chinese I, Intermediate Chinese I–II, Advanced Chinese I–II, Business Chinese I–II, and Advanced Business Chinese (2017–2021), Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University.
Teaching materials and learning resources: Teach to Learn.
Service
Linguistics
Co-Student Officer, Committee on Indigenous Languages and their Sustainability (COILS), Linguistic Society of America (2026–).
Board of Directors Member, Graduate Linguistic Association, University at Buffalo, SUNY (2022–2023).
Meeting Volunteer, LSA Annual Meeting, Linguistic Society of America (2019–2022).
Forum Staff, The 5th International Forum on Linguistics and Chinese Education, Columbia University (2019).
Other
Program Assistant, Chinese Language Program, Columbia University (2019–2021).
Coordinator Assistant, Chinese Language Program, Columbia University (2018–2021).
Associate Director, Alumni Association – Beijing Chapter, Center for International Foreign Language Teacher Education (CIFLTE), Teachers College (2017–2019).
President, Society of Calligraphy and Painting, Beijing Foreign Studies University (2016–2017).