Yang Xu
Associate Professor
Studies semantic change, lexical evolution and cross-linguistic semantic typology.
Yang Xu's lab at Toronto works on multilingual, translation & linguistics and genomics & computational biology. 27 papers since 2023, 10 at top venues, mostly ACL and EMNLP. 1 PhD student and 3 master's students. 10 alumni. Applications close .
At a glance
- papers, 2023–2026
- 7/ year
- at T1 venues
- 37%
- PhD students
- 1
- MS students
- 3
- alumni listed
- 10
Papers by yearfrom the lab homepage, 2023–2026
- 7 papers2026 · T1 3 · collecting
- 6 papers2025 · T1 1
- 8 papers2024 · T1 3
- 6 papers2023 · T1 3
T1 venuesOtherVenues: ACL, EMNLP, PNAS, NAACL, Nature Communications
Research focuspaper titles that use each topic's words
- evolution3 papers
- semantic2 papers
- Genomics & computational biology1 paper
- lexical1 paper
- Multilingual, translation & linguistics0 papers
Paper list
From the lab homepage.
20267 papers
- CogSciA quantitative analysis of cultural universals and variation in moral association (opens in a new tab)
- CogSciAn experimental study of the evolution of hierarchical category systems (opens in a new tab)
- CogSciCharacterizing regularity in semantic shift of individuals (opens in a new tab)
- PNAS (T1)Discovering regularity and mechanisms of word sense acquisition in childhood (opens in a new tab)
- Nature Communications (T1)Historical reconstruction of human moralization with word association and text corpora (opens in a new tab)
- CogSciQuantifying and extending the coverage of spatial categorization data sets (opens in a new tab)
- ACL (T1)Systematicity between forms and meanings across languages supports efficient communication (opens in a new tab)
20256 papers
- Cogn SciFrom Human child to Grey Parrot: Exploring a common model of word meaning extension across species (opens in a new tab)
- Open MindInfinite mixture chaining: An efficiency-based framework for the dynamic construction of word meaning (opens in a new tab)
- CogSciModeling compounding across languages with analogy and composition (opens in a new tab)
- topiCSMoral association graph: A cognitive model for automated moral inference (opens in a new tab)
- EMNLP (T1)The discordance between embedded ethics and cultural inference in large language models
- topiCSVisual moral inference and communication (opens in a new tab)
20248 papers
- CogSciCognitive factors in word sense decline (opens in a new tab)
- Open MindEvolution of the moral lexicon (opens in a new tab)
- CogSciOn quantifying schematicity of future narratives (opens in a new tab)
- EMNLP (T1)Paraphrase types elicit prompt engineering capabilities
- Open MindQuantifying bias in hierarchical category systems (opens in a new tab)
- PNAS NexusQuantifying the emergence of moral foundational lexicon in child language development (opens in a new tab)
- NAACL (T1)Toward informal language processing: Knowledge of slang in large language models
- PNAS (T1)Word reuse and combination support efficient communication of emerging concepts (opens in a new tab)
20236 papers
- Front CommunA computational analysis of crosslinguistic regularity in semantic change
- Science (T1)From language development to language evolution: A unified view of human lexical creativity (opens in a new tab)
- ACL (T1)Knowledge of cultural moral norms in large language models
- CogSciPredicting strategy choice in word formation: A case study of reuse and compounding (opens in a new tab)
- CogSciQuantifying informativeness of names in visual space (opens in a new tab)
- ACL (T1)Word sense extension
Where alumni went10 listed
Apply to TorontoFall 2027
Computer Science MSc/PhD
- Round
- Single round (Dec 1)
- Opens
- —
- GRE
- optional
- English
- TOEFL/IELTS if applicable
- Fee
- CAD 135
Confirmed on the program page.
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