Speech Lab · IIT Delhi

/ˈmɛm.bərz/

Lab Members

Faculty

Principal Investigator

Sahiinii Veikho

Prof. Sahiinii Veikho is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He holds a PhD from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and completed his postdoctoral research at CNRS (The French National Centre for Scientific Research). His research interests are acoustic and articulatory phonetics, historical phonology, and the use of technology in language documentation. His work primarily focuses on tone production in Trans-Himalayan languages.

Students

PhD Scholar, Linguistics

Hariprasad Doley

PhD scholar in Linguistics. Holds a Master's degree in Linguistics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Research interests include comparative phonological studies, tonal phenomena in languages, and the analysis of their acoustic and articulatory features.

Doctoral Student, SiRe

Ajeet Kumar Singh

Doctoral student at the School of Interdisciplinary Research (SiRe), working on speech as a biomarker for disease detection. Holds an M.S. (Research) in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Delhi.

Doctoral Student, SiRe

Karandeep Singh Seehra

Doctoral student at the School of Interdisciplinary Research (SiRe), focusing on tongue imaging to understand speech production. Holds an MTech in Biomedical Engineering from IIT BHU.

PhD Scholar, Linguistics

Sagar Boro

PhD scholar in Linguistics. Holds a Bachelor's degree from IIT Madras and a Master's degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Research focuses on the articulatory properties of fricative vowels and the process of tonogenesis.

Doctoral Student, Linguistics

Alokesh

Doctoral student in the Linguistics. Holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering and an M.A. in Linguistics. Prior to his PhD, Alokesh worked as a Research Assistant at Jadavpur University, contributing to a DST project on the neuro-psychological study of serial verbs and complex predicate constructions. His research focuses on Acoustic and Articulatory Phonetics and Phonology, with a special interest in retroflex and trill sounds. He enjoys playing various string instruments in his free time, including the guitar, banjo, and ukulele.

Doctoral Student, Linguistics

Gyandeep Chetia

Doctoral student in Linguistics. Holds a master's degree in linguistics from Tezpur University. Research interests lie in acoustic phonetics, with a particular emphasis on studying different phonation types.

Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Fellow

Mohnish Judge

Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Fellow. Graduate of Oregon State University. Research focuses on the phonetic properties of the Tibetan language and the discourse analysis of diasporic media.

Project Staffs

Research Assistant

Sulagna Sana

Research assistant working on speech disorder data. She has an MSc in Cognitive Science from IIT Delhi and has a background in life sciences and clinical research. Her research interests include psycholinguistics, neuroimaging, and molecular biology, with a focus on linking basic neuroscience to clinical applications for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.

Principal Project Scientist

Dr. Marina Laltlinzo Infimate

Principal Project Scientist. She earned her PhD from North Eastern Hill University and has an interest in Tibeto-Burman linguistics, morphosyntax, and language documentation. Currently, she is leading the documentation of Ṭhiek, a South Central language from the Cachar cluster, under the ELDP Major Documentation Project. The project aims to create a versatile audio-video data corpus to support the advancement of speech technology.

ird600869@iitd.ac.in

Principal Project Scientist

Dr. Anujeema Saikia

Principal Project Scientist. Having earned her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, she is currently working on Saihriem under an ELDP Major Documentation Project to document endangered South-Central languages of the Cachar cluster. Her research focuses on language documentation, language contact, and endangered languages, with a particular emphasis on the languages of Northeast India. The project will produce multipurpose audio-video data aimed at the development of speech technology.

anujeema.saikia@hss.iitd.ac.in

Academic Associates

Associate Professor, IIT Delhi

Prof. Biswarup Mukherjee

Associate Professor at the Center for Biomedical Engineering, IIT Delhi. His broad research interest is to develop sensors and instrumentation to augment function in individuals with motor disabilities.

Professor of Neurology, AIIMS Delhi

Prof. Deepti Vibha

Professor of Neurology at AIIMS Delhi. Her research areas include stroke, neuro-infections, neuroimmunology, movement disorders, sleep disturbances, epilepsy, headache, and language and speech disorders.

Associate Professor, IIT Delhi

Prof. Paroma Sanyal

Associate Professor of Linguistics at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Her research interests are in theoretical approaches to phonology and morpho-syntax.

Assistant Professor, IIT Delhi

Prof. Deepak Alok

Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Deepak is interested in applying formal linguistics knowledge to Natural language processing, and Language documentation.

Assistant Professor, AIIMS Delhi

Prof. Suman Das

Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology at AIIMS Delhi. Areas of interest: Neurophysiological basis of disease prediction.

Assistant Professor, Univ. of Bern

Prof. Linda Konnert

Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Bern. Her research interests include language documentation, historical linguistics, and functional-typological approaches to language.

/ʌpˈdeɪts/

Updates

Conference announcements, publications, and department-level progress from the lab.

Upcoming Events

30 Oct – 1 Nov 2026

29th Himalayan Languages Symposium (HLS-29), IIT Delhi

The lab is hosting HLS-29 on campus. Registration, the call for papers, and the full programme will be posted here as they're finalised.

Department

25 Jun 2026

Tongue Imaging Analysis for Studying Speech Production

Karandeep Singh Seehra successfully completed his Research Plan Presentation.

5 May 2026

Phonetic Analysis of Oinam Tone

Gyandeep Chetia successfully completed his Research Plan Presentation.

21 May 2025

Phonetic and Phonology of Retroflexes in Haryanvi and Tamil

Alokesh Majumder successfully completed his Research Plan Presentation.

27 Mar 2025

Tonogenesis and Tone Change in Boro-Garo Languages

Sagar Boro successfully completed his Research Plan Presentation.

Conference Presentation

8 Feb 2025

Acoustic and Articulatory Analysis of Fricative Vowels in Bodo

Sagar Boro and Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho. North East Indian Linguistics Society Conference (NEILS-13).

Publication

2025 · Peer-Reviewed Article (submitted)

Poumai Naga

Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho. In The Oxford Guide to the Tibeto-Burman Languages, edited by Kristine Hildebrandt, Yankee Modi, David Peterson, and Hiroyuki Suzuki. Oxford University Press.

2021 · Book

Grammar of Poumai Naga (Poula): A Trans-Himalayan Language of Northeast India

Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho. Brill: Leiden. brill.com/display/title/57482

2018 · Peer-Reviewed Article

Sound System of Monsang

S. Monsang and Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho. Himalayan Linguistics, 17(2). University of California. doi.org/10.5070/H917237811

2018 · Peer-Reviewed Article

Vowels and Tones in Poula

Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho and Priyankoo Sarmah. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 41(1). John Benjamins Publishing Company: The Netherlands. benjamins.com/catalog/ltba.16022.lem

2016 · Peer-Reviewed Article

A Note on Bodo Phonology

Jitamoni Mushahary and Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho. Indian Linguistics, 77, 71–90.

2015 · Peer-Reviewed Article

Poula Phonetics and Phonology: An Initial Overview

Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho and Khyriem Barika. North East Indian Linguistics, 7, 45–60. Australian National University: Asia-Pacific Linguistics Open Access. core.ac.uk/download/pdf/156698443.pdf

2015 · Peer-Reviewed Article

Preliminary Acoustic Study of Vowels and Tones in Kokborok

Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho and Jitamoni Mushahary. Nepalese Linguistics, 30, 161–166. himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk

/rɪˈsɜːrtʃ/

Projects

SonoSpeech: Towards Wearable Ultrasound-based Assessment of Speech Disorders.

PI: Dr. Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho Co-PI: Biswarup Mukherjee and Deepti Vibha

Funding Agency: ICMR Duration: 2025 to 2028 StatusOngoing

Analysis of Tongue Movements in the Production of Tone Using Tongue Imaging System

PI: Dr. Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho

Funding Agency: Seed Grant, IITD Duration: 2024 to 2027 StatusOngoing

Speech data annotation and analysis of Oinam Speech Corpus

PI: Dr. Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho

Funding Agency: ELDP, Berlin Duration: 2 years (2024–2026) StatusOngoing

Saihriem and Thiek documentation project

Creation of Speech Corpus: A collaborative documentation of Saihriem and Thiek

PI: Dr. Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho Co-PI: Dr. Linda Konnerth and Dr. Mary Kim Haokip

Funding Agency: A Major Documentation Project, ELDP, Berlin Duration: 3 years (2024–2027) StatusOngoing

Bhagwan Birsa Munda Cell (BBMC) at IIT Delhi: To develop Techno Managerial Solution for Socio-economic Development of Tribal Communities in India (Speech Technology Development)

Co-PI: Dr. Sahiinii Lemaina Veikho

Funding Agency: Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India Duration: 3 years (2024–2027) StatusOngoing

Funding Agencies

Collaborators

/kə.læb.əˈreɪ.ʃən/

Collaboration with Communities

Release of the Poumai Digital Dictionary event flyer

Poumai Naga Literature Society

Speech Lab, IIT Delhi collaborates with the Poumai Naga Literature Society. We helped develop the Poumai digital application and host their data in our lab. The application allows community members to keep contributing, growing the dictionary over time. We're glad to support the development of under-resourced languages, and we'd welcome the chance to collaborate with more communities.

Dictionary link: poumainaga.org

/ˈgæl.ər.i/

Lab Gallery

A look inside the Speech Lab's spaces at IIT Delhi.

06 / 09Corridor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

/dʒɔɪn ʌs/

Current Openings

Research Aims

To gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind the production of unique or rare phonemes, offering insights into the complexity of human speech.
To advance the development of language technology tailored for under-resourced languages, ensuring their preservation and accessibility.
To apply speech technology in the field of speech therapy and rehabilitation, enhancing treatment and recovery for individuals with speech disorders.

PhD positions

We invite enthusiastic students with backgrounds in Phonetics, Linguistics, Speech Science, Computer Science, or Electrical Engineering to apply for admission to join our lab. If you're interested in pursuing a PhD with us, please reach out to Dr. Sahiinii Veikho and attach your updated CV. Basic programming skills in languages like R or Python are preferred.

Postdoc positions

Highly motivated candidates capable of conducting independent research are encouraged to contact Dr. Sahiinii Veikho with their latest CV. Preference will be given to candidates with a research background in Phonetics or Speech.

Internships

Internship opportunities depend on current project needs and the availability of lab members. You can reach out to any lab member to discuss potential openings.

/ˈkɒn.tækt/

Location

Main Building, Block III, 3rd floor, Room no. 3B-19.
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi,
Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India.

Email: sahiinii [at] iitd [dot] ac [dot] in

We study how speech is made — and made possible.