Phase Ⅰ (1950 - 1977)

Since establishment, the Institute of Linguistics had conducted empirical research and applied studies in areas such as experimental phonetics and  machine translation. Early equipment was used in this stage including devices such as kymographs, Tone Inference Scale (LIU-graph), tuning forks, graduated pitch pipes, and wire recorders. In the late 1950s, instruments for acoustics analysis were added, such as oscilloscopes an spectrographs, initiating studies on the acoustic characteristics of Mandarin vowels and consonants.

1950

The Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was established in 1950. Following the national adjustments of academic institutions, a speech and phonetic experiment group was set up based on the original Phonetics and Temperament Laboratory at the Department of Humanities, Peking University (established in 1925). Over the past 70 years, the development of experimental linguistics and laboratory construction have generally gone through five major stages.

Phase Ⅱ (1977 - 1997)

In 1977, the Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was established, and the phonetics Lab was set up subsequently. Based on the original speech and phonetic experiment group, the lab expanded its staff and equipment, and purchased several computers, which enabled systematic dynamic analysis of Mandarin speech and initiated research on speech synthesis based on articulatory and acoustic parameters.

Phase Ⅲ (1997 - 2011)

In the late 1990s, with the rapid development of computer and digital signal processing technologies, the construction and research of large-scale speech corpora became feasible. As a pioneer and leader in this field, the phonetics Lab took the initiative to develop and establish a set of large -scale speech data.It also created a segmentation and prosody annotation system for Mandarin speech. Based on this effort, the lab conducted a series of studies on speech rhythm and prosodic features for speech engineering application. Through project-based collaborations with organizations such as Highrise, iFlyTek,Nokia, IBM, Motorola, Toshiba, and ATR, as well as the establishment of a joint speech laboratory with iFlyTeK, the lab made significant contribution to the inception and development of intelligent language and speech technologies in China.

Phase Ⅳ (2011 - 2023)

In 2011, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences launched the "Innovation Project" for philosophy and social sciences. The Phonetics Laboratory, in collaboration with other research labs, pooled its talent resources to establish the Phonetics and Speech Science Laboratory, which became one of the first pilot units in the Innovation Project. The laboratory further strengthened its infrastructure by acquiring a series of advanced instruments, including EEG machines, eye trackers, electromagnetic articulography (EMA), motion capture systems, and ultrasound devices. It also expanded and renovated several specialized labs, including the Child Language Lab, Speech Production Lab, Language Cognition Lab, and Sound Proof Recording Studio. The laboratory actively expanded its research in phonetics and emerging fields, achieving numerous groundbreaking results in areas such as speech articutatory modeling, children's speech acquisition and development, and language cognitive processing.

The Key Laboratory of Linguistics boasts a history of over 70 years, with academic heritage and significant scholarly influence. Through the continuous efforts of generations of scholars, it has established a solid research foundation and favorable conditions for development.

Phase V (2023 - )

In late 2023, the Key Laboratory of Linguistics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) was approved and established through deliberation by the Party Committee of CASS.