Chao Prize Lecture 2026: Language Users as Chameleons

Abstract

Are humans more like the adaptable chameleon or the unchanging leopard when it comes to their mother tongue? In this lecture, I will present evidence of the remarkable malleability of early-learned spoken languages, suggesting that humans are more like linguistic chameleons. Drawing upon findings from phonetic accommodation, phonetic drift, and phonetic and phonological attrition, I will show that languages learned in childhood remain highly sensitive to context, broadly construed, adapting to different interlocutors, to a new language in the mental repertoire, and to fluctuations in the language environment. Crucially, I will argue that dynamic changes in the way individuals produce and/or perceive a language need not constitute a loss, but should rather be viewed as the natural outcome of our linguistic adaptability.

About the speaker

Prof. Charles B. Chang is Professor of Linguistics at City University of Hong Kong (CityU). He completed his PhD in Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and held faculty appointments at Rice University, SOAS University of London, and Boston University before joining CityU. His research focuses on aspects of language learning, multilingualism, and language attrition in diverse populations of language users, with a view toward sharpening our understanding of linguistic knowledge and making linguistic theory more inclusive and accessible.