Linguist · Researcher · Language learner
Hello, I’m Yingfei, or Estefanía in Spanish. I’m a PhD researcher exploring how new words take shape across English and Spanish.
Predoctoral researcher in the Department of Translation and Language Sciences at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.
Languages, places, music, and the experiences that shape how I approach research.
My academic path
I am from Guangzhou, China. My name is Yingfei Lu, and my Spanish name is Estefanía. I am currently a third-year PhD student in the Department of Translation and Language Sciences at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, under the supervision of Dr. Elisenda Bernal and Dr. Alba Milà-Garcia. I am a member of Infolex and TraDiLex. From September 2025 to January 2026 I conducted a research stay at Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès in France.
Languages
I am passionate about languages. I am a native speaker of both Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, and I hold advanced proficiency in English and Spanish. As a dedicated language learner, I am currently striving to master Catalan through the university’s language center.
Beyond academia
Outside of academia, I enjoy traveling, as it allows me to explore new perspectives and cultures. I am also a music enthusiast, with a love for both pop and classical music. I hold an annual pass to L’Auditori in Barcelona, where I regularly attend performances by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra.
In my younger years, I was both a fencing athlete and a cello player.
A guiding thought
My motto, Per aspera ad astra ("Through hardships to the stars"), resonates deeply with me, and I often reflect on its Mandarin Chinese translation: 彼此苦旅，以觅繁星 ("Together through life’s struggles, seeking the stars"). This inspires me to persevere in all aspects of life and research.
Research
My research interests center on morphology, neology, and lexicography. More specifically, I am passionate about studying word elements (combining forms and affixes), transitional morphology, and comparative linguistics in English and Spanish. My current research focuses on distinguishing between affixes and combining forms in both languages, using the framework of Transitional Morphology (Mattiello, 2023), with the goal of contributing to and advancing this theoretical model.
Conferences, presentations, fellowships, and milestones from my doctoral journey.