Aidan Pine

My name is Aidan Pine. I'm a settler of European ancestry born in Victoria, B.C. and I developed this site in order to bring together the various themes of my research as well as the language revitalization and open-source software projects that I am involved in.

I fell in love with language revitalization work as a way of combining my interests in language, linguistics, anti-colonial/decolonial methodologies, and computer science.

I am a full-time researcher at the Canadian National Research Council, where I was most recently technical lead for the Speech Generation for Indigenous Language Education project (2022-2025). I am also the founder and lead developer of Mother Tongues, and former technology consultant for the First Peoples' Cultural Council, and the University of British Columbia.

Today, my research is mainly centered on speech synthesis, with a particular focus on data-constrained modelling, evaluation methodologies, and the specific modelling requirements for educational contexts. Have a look at the following section for a fuller description of the broader themes that guide my research.

Research Themes

The sections below help connect my publications to four core themes that run throughout most of my research. You can also view a thematically organized timeline of my publications or a filterable list of all of my publications below.

Language Revitalization

I have loved language ever since I was a child. But, it wasn't until I was an adult that I learned that the linguistic reality of the place I grew up in had been hidden from me.

I learned that this attempted erasure was the result of myriad colonial policies aimed at replacing Indigenous languages with English or French and removing Indigenous people from their lands.

I strongly believe that being an effective supporter of language revitalization efforts requires understand the very harmful processes of language de-vitalization that led to this situation in the first place.

Being able to direct my passion and interest for language into something that supports language revitalization and reclammation efforts has been an endlessly fulfilling pursuit.

Speech Technology

Many communities I worked with had a seemingly simple request: to be able to hear the language in the text-based tools we had been developing together. However, recording the tens of thousands or millions of words that would be in the average dictionary or verb conjugator would be a near impossible task, so the research question became: "What is the minimum number of recordings needed to build a TTS system good enough for an educational setting?".

That question brought me to the University of Edinburgh for my M.Sc., led to a Best Special Theme Paper at ACL based on my dissertation work, and eventually to a three-year grant collaboratively building community-owned TTS systems for SENĆOŦEN, nêhiyawêwin, and Kanien'kéha.

Digital Lexicography

As a First Nations' Languages and Linguistics major during my undergraduate degree, I worked to support the Gitksan Dictionary Project where I worked with elders and speakers of the language to document words and phrases for an online dictionary. The final step of turning the carefully documented dictionary data into something accessible to learners was expensive and challenging. Many web development companies at the time developed products that didn't properly render symbols in Indigenous languages, and the search algorithms they used were designed around English.

This became the focus of my undergraduate honours thesis, and later led to the Mother Tongues dictionaries; a free, open source tool which allows for customizable approximate search and has been used for dozens of Indigenous languages world-wide.

Foundational Language Technology

Speech synthesis and other cutting edge technologies are cool and all, but if the language in question doesn't have reliable access to a Unicode input system/keyboard, then what use is text-to-speech? There's a surprising amount of foundational language technology that is required to build other language technologies. Many NLP researchers working on languages like English take Unicode, keyboards, phonemizers, and forced alignment for granted, but these present real challenges.

One thread of my research is building tools that are either directly requested by communities (like text-audio aligners or orthography converters), or prerequisites to other desired digital technologies (like grapheme-to-phoneme engines).

Research Publication Timeline

The timeline below shows my academic publishing record according to the above themes. While Language Revitalization work has remained constant throughout my career, other themes follow a different pattern. For example, I only start working on Speech Technology after completing my M.Sc. in Speech & Language Processing at the University of Edinburgh in 2021.

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Language Revitalization

Speech Technology

Digital Lexicography

Foundational Language Technology

Publications (25)

Google Scholar

Exploring Cross-Lingual Voice Conversion Methods for Anonymizing Low-Resource Text-to-Speech Wang, S., Pine, A., Geng, M. 2026. Proceedings of the 19th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 2: Short Papers).

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Evaluating Speech Foundation Models for Automatic Speech Recognition in the Low-Resource Kanyen'kéha Language Geng, M., Littell, P., Pine, A., Jimerson, R., Boulianne, G., Gupta, V., Coto-Solano, R., Kazantseva, A., Tessier, M., Lothian, D., Martin, A., Joanis, E., Larkin, S., Kuhn, R. 2025. Interspeech 2025.

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Supporting SENĆOŦEN Language Documentation Efforts with Automatic Speech Recognition Geng, M., Littell, P., Pine, A., PENÁĆ, Tessier, M., Kuhn, R. 2025. Proceedings of the Eight Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages.

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The NRCC Submission to the Blizzard Challenge 2025 Pine, A. 2025. Proc. The Blizzard Challenge 2025.

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Practical and Contextual Speech Synthesis Evaluation Pine, A., Lothian, D., Bird, S., Caldecott, M., MENEŦIYE, PENÁĆ, Richmond, K., Swallow, T., SX̱EDŦELISIYE, Valentini-Botinhao, C., Wells, D., Littell, P. 2025. Speech Synthesis Workshop 2025.

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Speech Generation for Indigenous Language Education Pine, A., Cooper, E., Guzmán, D., Joanis, E., Krekoski, R., Kuhn, R., Larkin, S., Littell, P., Lothian, D., Martin, A., Richmond, K., Tessier, M., Valentini-Botinhao, C., Wells, D., Yamagishi, J. 2025. Computer Speech and Language.

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Zero-Shot Query Generation for Approximate Search Algorithm Evaluation Pine, A., Huggins-Daines, D., Leeming, C., Littell, P., Montler, T., Souter, H., Turin, M. 2025. ComputEL-8 2025.

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An Initial Investigation of Language Adaptation for TTS Systems under Low-resource Scenarios Gong, C., Cooper, E., Wang, X., Qiang, C., Geng, M., Wells, D., Wang, L., Dang, J., Tessier, M., Pine, A., Richmond, K., Yamagishi, J. 2024. Interspeech 2024.

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Gramble: A Tabular Programming Language for Collaborative Linguistic Modeling Littell, P., Stewart, D., Davis, F., Pine, A., Kuhn, R. 2024. Proceedings of the 2024 Joint International Conference on Computational Linguistics, Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC-COLING 2024).

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Low-dimensional Style Token Control for Hyperarticulated Speech Synthesis Nishihara, M., Wells, D., Richmond, K., Pine, A. 2024. Interspeech 2024.

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Experimental evaluation of MOS, AB and BWS listening test designs Wells, D., Blanco, A., Valentini, C., Cooper, E., Pine, A., Yamagishi, J., Richmond, K. 2024. Interspeech 2024.

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ReadAlong Studio Web Interface for Digital Interactive Storytelling Pine, A., Huggins-Daines, D., Joanis, E., Littell, P., Tessier, M., Torkornoo, D., Knowles, R., Kuhn, R., Lothian, D. 2023. Proceedings of the 18th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications (BEA 2023).

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ReadAlong Studio: Practical Zero-Shot Text-Speech Alignment for Indigenous Language Audiobooks Littell, P., Joanis, E., Pine, A., Tessier, M., Huggins-Daines, D., Torkornoo, D. 2022. Proceedings of the 1st Annual Meeting of the ELRA/ISCA Special Interest Group on Under-Resourced Languages.

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Gi2Pi: Rule-based, index-preserving grapheme-to-phoneme transformations Pine, A., Littell, P., Joanis, E., Huggins-Daines, D., Cox, C., Davis, F., Santos, E., Srikanth, S., Torkornoo, D., Yu, S. 2022. Proceedings of the Fifth Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages.

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Requirements and motivations of low-resource speech synthesis for language revitalization Pine, A., Wells, D., Brinklow, N., Littell, P., Richmond, K. 2022. 60th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics.

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Indigenous Language Technologies and Language Reclamation in Canada Brinklow, N., Littell, P., Lothian, D., Pine, A., Souter, H. 2020. International Conference Language Technologies for All (LT4All): Enabling Linguistic Diversity and Multilingualism Worldwide.

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The Indigenous Languages Technology Project at NRC Canada: an empowerment-oriented approach to developing language software Kuhn, R., Davis, F., Désilets, A., Joanis, E., Kazantseva, A., Knowles, R., Littell, P., Lothian, D., Pine, A., Running Wolf, C., Santos, E., Stewart, D., Boulianne, G., Gupta, V., Maracle, O., Martin, A., Cox, C., Junker, M., Sammons, O., Torkornoo, D., Brinklow, N., Child, S., Farley, B., Huggins-Daines, D., Rosenblum, D., Souter, H. 2020. National Research Council Canada.

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Using technology to help revitalize Indigenous languages Turin, M., Pine, A. 2019. Oxford University Press Blog.

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Doing Phonological Corpus Analysis in a Fieldwork Context Hall, K., Pine, A., Schwan, M. 2018. Wa7 xweysás i nqwaluttenhíha: He loves the peoples' languages. Essays in honour of Henry Davis.

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Kawennón:nis: the Wordmaker for Kanyen'kéha (Ohsweken Mohawk) Kazantseva, A., Maracle, B., Maracle, R., Pine, A. 2018. COLING: The 27th International Conference on Computational Linguistics.

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Indigenous language technologies in Canada: Assessment, challenges, and successes Littell, P., Kazantseva, A., Kuhn, R., Pine, A., Arppe, A., Cox, C., Junker, M. 2018. COLING: The 27th International Conference on Computational Linguistics.

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Seeing the Heiltsuk Orthography from Font Encoding through to Unicode: A Case Study Using Convertextract Pine, A., Turin, M. 2018. CCURL 2018: The 3rd Workshop on Collaboration and Computing for Under-Resourced Languages.

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Three Gitksan texts Forbes, C., Davis, H., Schwan, M., Gitksan Research Lab 2017. University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics.

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Waldayu and Waldayu Mobile: Modern digital dictionary interfaces for endangered languages Littell, P., Pine, A., Davis, H. 2017. Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages.

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Language Revitalization Pine, A., Turin, M. 2017. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics.

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Presentations (55)

Title	Location	Presenters	Type	Year
Language Revitalization & Speech Technology	Knowledge, Information and Technology Services (KITS) Virtual	Pine, A.	Talk	2023
Language Revitalization & Speech Technology	ASTU 402 Living Language: Science & Society Guest Lecture Virtual (University of British Columbia)	Pine, A.	Lecture	2023
Interactive Storytelling & Practical Zero-Shot Text-Speech Alignment using ReadAlong-Studio	Lanfrica Talk Series Virtual (Masakhane)	Littell, P. Pine, A.	Talk	2023
“Watch me Speak!” Interactive Storytelling using ReadAlong-Studio	Linguistics Department Virtual (University of California Santa Barbara)	Pine, A.	Talk	2023
“Watch me Speak!” Interactive Storytelling using ReadAlong-Studio	ICLDC 2023: Centering Justice in Language Work Virtual (University of Hawai'i)	Pine, A. Huggins-Daines, D. Joanis, E. Littell, P. Tessier, M. Torkornoo, D.	Workshop	2022
“Watch me Speak!” Interactive Storytelling using ReadAlong-Studio	Community Workshop for Indigenous Language Technology (CWILTs Series) Virtual (National Research Council)	Pine, A. Huggins-Daines, D. Joanis, E. Littell, P. Tessier, M. Torkornoo, D.	Workshop	2022
Developing Speech & Language Technologies for Indigenous Language Revitalization	Domain Adaptation Group University of Toronto	Pine, A.	Talk	2022
Requirements and Motivations of Low-Resource Speech Synthesis for Language Revitalization	Centre for Speech Technology Research Edinburgh	Pine, A.	Talk	2022
Gᵢ2Pᵢ: Rule-based, index-preserving grapheme-to-phoneme transformations	ComputEL-5 Dublin	Pine, A.	Talk	2022
Requirements and Motivations of Low-Resource Speech Synthesis for Language Revitalization	Best Papers Award Session Plenary at ACL 2022 Dublin	Pine, A.	Talk	2022
Speech Technology & Language Reclamation	FNEL 180 University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2022
Low Resource Speech Synthesis	NLP Seminar National Research Council Canada	Pine, A.	Talk	2021
G2P (grapheme-to-phoneme) the 'what', 'so what', and 'now what'	Continual Workshops in Indigenous Language Technology (CWILTs) Virtual	Pine, A.	Talk	2020
Language Revitalization & Technology	ASTU 402 University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2020
Lexicography, Language Revitalization & Mother Tongues Dictionaries	FNEL 382 University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2020
Language Technology & Language Reclamation	FNEL 180 University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2020
Readalongs: Automatic alignment of speech and text for Indigenous language audiobooks	52nd Algonquian Conference University of Wisconsin - Madison	Huggins-Daines, D. Littell, P. Pine, A. Joanis, E.	Talk	2020
Developing technology to support Indigenous language revitalization in Canada	Centre for Speech Technology Research (CSTR) University of Edinburgh	Pine, A.	Talk	2019
Canadian National Research Council's Indigenous Language Technology Project	International Conference on Language Technologies for All UNESCO HQ, Paris	Pine, A. Brinklow, N. Souter, H. Lothian, D.	Poster	2019
ReadAlong Studio: Zero-shot Text/Speech Alignment for Indigenous Language Audiobooks	Ottawa AI NRC Sussex, Ottawa	Daines, D. Littell, P. Pine, A. Joanis, E. Torkornoo, D.	System demonstration	2019
Supplementing text-based Indigenous language applications with synthetic speech	Ottawa AI NRC Sussex, Ottawa	Pine, A. Kazantseva, A.	Poster	2019
Kawennón:nis the Word Maker for Kanyen'kéha	Kanyenn'kéha Mohawk Class Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na, Tyendinaga	Pine, A.	Talk	2019
Kawennón:nis the Word Maker for Kanyen'kéha	Kanyen'kéha Mohawk 101R Renison University College at University of Waterloo	Pine, A.	Lecture	2019
Language Revitalization & Technology	ASTU 402 - Living Language: Science & Society University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2019
Language Revitalization, technology, and making the most of your undergraduate experience	FNEL 180 University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2019
Language Revitalization & the Role of Technology	Nerd Nite YYJ Victoria Event Centre	Pine, A.	Talk	2019
UBC Alumni Panel	50th Anniversary of the UBC Linguistics Department University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Panel discussion	2019
Mohawk O'Clock: Limited Domain Speech Synthesis in Kanyen'kéha	ICLDC 6 University of Hawaii	Pine, A. Littell, P. Maracle, R.	Technology showcase	2019
Kawennón:nis: An Online Tool for Learning Verbal Morphology in Kanyen'kéha	ICLDC 6 University of Hawaii	Kazantseva, A. Brant, R. Maracle, O. Maracle, R. Pine, A.	Technology showcase	2019
Digital Kinesthetic Learning and the Gitksan Pronominal Paradigm	ICLDC 6 University of Hawaii	Pine, A.	Presentation	2019
How to Make a 'Mother Tongues' Digital Dictionary	ICLDC 6 University of Hawaii	Pine, A. Turin, M.	Workshop	2019
An Introduction to Gitksan Research	LING 372 Guest Lecture University of Victoria	Pine, A.	Lecture	2018
Developing Digital Tools for Language Revitalization: Demystifying Coding, Apps, and Web Platforms	National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics Tokyo, Japan	Pine, A. Turin, M.	Workshop	2018
Developing Digital Tools for Language Revitalization: Demystifying Coding, Apps, and Web Platforms	CoLang University of Florida	Pine, A. Turin, M.	Workshop	2018
Kawennón:nis: The Wordmaker for Kanyén'keha	Onkwawenna Kentyohkwa Immersion School Ohsweken, Ontario	Kazantseva, A. Pine, A.	Presentation	2018
Seeing the Heiltsuk Orthography from Font Encoding to Unicode: A Case Study Using Convertextract	Conference on Collaboration and Computing of Under Resourced Languages Miyazaki, Japan	Pine, A.	Conference	2018
Ama silkw sa	Gitksan Elders Meeting Gitksan Elder's Center. Gitanmaax, B.C	Pine, A.	Presentation	2018
A multi-dialectal Ayajuthem talking dictionary	Sliammon, B.C	Pine, A.	Presentation	2018
An Introduction to Gitksan Research	LING 372 Guest Lecture University of Victoria	Pine, A.	Lecture	2018
Digital Kinesthetic Learning and the Gitksan Pronominal Paradigm	Research in Indigenous Languages and Linguistics University of Victoria	Pine, A.	Presentation	2018
Practical Phonetics	Adult Gitxsan Class Gitsegukla, & Terrace, B.C	Pine, A.	Lecture	2018
Practical Phonetics	Adult Gitxsan Class Gitanmaax, B.C	Pine, A.	Lecture	2017
A visual presentation with Aidan Pine: The possibilities of our new app	Ayajuthem language conference Sliammon, B.C	Pine, A.	Conference	2017
Sim ayeehl k'uuhl	FNEL 180 Guest Lecture University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2017
Ama silkw sa	Gitksan Elders Meeting Gitksan Elder's Center. Gitanmaax, B.C	Pine, A.	Presentation	2017
Dim liseewis Xsiwis g̲ant Sginist wil wihl hahlaalst sit'aadiit	Gitksan Language Symposium Gitksan Wet'suwet'en Education Society. Hazelton, B.C.	Smith, J. Pine, A.	Conference	2017
Lexicography for Endangered Languages	FNEL 382 Guest Lecture University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2017
Mobile App Development	BC Breath of Life Institute University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Workshop	2017
Introducing Waldayu & Waldayu Mobile	ComputEL-2: The 2nd Workshop on Computational Methods for Endangered Languages University of Hawaii	Pine, A.	Conference	2017
Making the most of undergraduate research	FNEL 180 Guest Lecture University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2016
Mobilizing Language Data: An Endangered Language Dictionary App	Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Conference	2016
'Nit gwihl Jabisi'm	FNEL 180 Guest Lecture University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Lecture	2015
Connecting Linguistics to Language Learners: a Lesson Plan for Gitksan	Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Conference	2015
Preferential Encliticization in Gitksan	Linguistics Department University of British Columbia	Pine, A.	Presentation	2014
Quantifier Scope in Gitksan	Gitksan Research Group Research Seminar University of British Columbia	Barois, M. Bicevskis, K. Cheng, K. Pine, A.	Presentation	2014

Research Themes

Language Revitalization

Speech Technology

Digital Lexicography

Foundational Language Technology

Research Publication Timeline

Publications (25)

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