Samantha Soon, PhD
Independent Linguist | Translation & Multilingual Language-Data Consultant
Research
My research examines how language contact reshapes sound systems, especially in multilingual and underdocumented language ecologies.
My current work focuses on Kwényï, an Oceanic language of New Caledonia, with attention to tone loss, vowel length, stress, contact-induced phonological change, and language documentation. Earlier projects examined Penang Hokkien loanword tone, Singapore English phonology, linguistic landscapes, and Nagamese.
Current Research
Kwényï Grammar & Documentation
My doctoral research was a sketch grammar of Kwényï from a historical perspective. It brought together fieldwork data, grammatical description, and comparative Oceanic evidence to document the language and situate it within wider patterns of change in New Caledonia.
Tone, Stress & Prosody
I am especially interested in the interaction of tone, vowel length, stress, and prosody in Kwényï and related languages, including what these patterns reveal about sound change and tone loss.
Contact-Induced Phonological Change
A broader strand of my work asks how multilingual contact settings reshape phonological systems over time, especially in Oceanic and Southeast Asian contexts.
Publications & Works
My current research outputs focus on Kwényï, an Oceanic language of New Caledonia, with broader interests in phonetics, phonology, tone, vowel length, stress, language contact, and language documentation.
Published Work
“Kwényï (Far South, New Caledonia) – Language Snapshot”
Language Documentation and Description 25(1), 2025.
Read publication
“Kwényï: A Sketch Grammar from a Historical Perspective”
PhD dissertation, University of Sydney, 2023.
View dissertation
Under Revision
“Phonetic and Phonological Observations on Kwényï”
Revised manuscript submitted to Oceanic Linguistics.
“Monophthongisation in Shammari Arabic: Acoustic evidence for shared phonological behaviour of gutturals, emphatics, and coronal sonorants”
With Badr Alshammari and Gwendolyn Hyslop. Revised manuscript submitted to Arabic Linguistics.
In Preparation
"Tone, contact, and phonological change in Kwényï"
Manuscript in preparation.
Previous Research
My earlier work examined language contact, multilingualism, loanword phonology, varieties of English, linguistic landscapes, and language documentation in Southeast Asian and Asian contexts. These projects continue to inform my current work on tone, contact, multilingual phonology, and documentation.
Penang Hokkien: Tones on Loanwords
M.A. dissertation, Nanyang Technological University, 2015.
“Tonal Assignment of Malay Loanwords in Penang Hokkien.”
This project examined tonal assignment in Malay loanwords in Penang Hokkien, focusing on lexical stress, syllable phonotactics, contact linguistics, and loanword phonology.
Subfields: loanword phonology, contact linguistics, tone, multilingualism.
Singapore English: Phonological Change
B.A. Honours thesis, Nanyang Technological University, 2011.
“Is Singapore English becoming American?”
This project investigated American English influence in Singapore English, including post-vocalic /r/, taps, and vowel features across age groups.
Subfields: phonology, varieties of English, sociophonetics.
Linguistic Landscape in Penang
Paper presented at 6th University of Malaya International Conference on Discourse and Society, 2017.
“Linguistic Landscape in Georgetown: Tourism and Multilingual Representation”
This project examined multilingual public signage and language use in Penang, with attention to how language choice reflects identity, locality, community, commerce, migration, and multilingual contact.
Subfields: linguistic landscape, multilingualism, language contact, sociolinguistics.