Yi-Ya is not a project or product, but a shared research framework for observing and comparing early speech onset across independent studies.

What Yi-Ya Is / Is Not

Yi-Ya is

• A shared research framework for observing and comparing early speech onset (0–3) across independent studies.
• A reference layer (core constructs + reporting logic) that supports cross-study and cross-language comparability.
• Family-based and low-burden in implementation, while remaining compatible with local ethics and lab practices.

Yi-Ya is not

• Not a product, app, or commercial platform.
• Not a single unified protocol imposed on participating labs.
• Not a replacement for existing theories—rather, a shared descriptive backbone that can complement them.

How to Use Yi-Ya

• Define your own research question and study design as usual (Yi-Ya does not constrain methods).
• Use Yi-Ya’s core constructs to describe early vocal units and developmental trajectories in a comparable way.
• Optionally adopt templates/tools (logs, tagging sheets, minimal reporting dimensions) if helpful.
• Report findings using the shared logic so results can be compared across sites and languages.

How to Refer to Yi-Ya

Recommended phrasing:

• “Yi-Ya is a shared research framework for early speech onset (0–3).”
• “Our study adopts the Yi-Ya framework for cross-comparable reporting of early vocal development.”

If you cite theoretical grounding, you may reference the “Initial-Final Induction Principle” (paper + patent) as the origin of the framework’s descriptive logic.

Scientific Question

How does language begin to form inside the infant brain before semantic understanding emerges?

Theoretical Basis

This program is grounded in the Initial-Final Induction Principle, presented in the 2008 peer-reviewed paper The Potential Vocal Ability of Infants and supported by the invention patent Method and Device for Identifying Potential Vocal Characters in Infants.

Instead of analyzing large corpora post-language development, we study the birth of phonetic networks as they first emerge.

Research Platform

Yi-Ya does not require a centralized experimental platform. Instead, it defines a shared reference layer that can be applied across diverse research settings to support the observation, documentation, and comparison of early speech onset processes.

Where appropriate, reference materials, example measurement dimensions, or optional tools may be made available to assist researchers in organizing and reporting their observations.

All data collection, experimental design, and analytical procedures remain fully determined by individual studies, in accordance with local research practices, technical setups, and ethical approvals.

Phase-1 Collaboration Model

In Phase-1, the Yi-Ya framework may be adopted by independent studies under the following guiding principles:

• Participating researchers define their own research questions, designs, and variables, in accordance with their disciplinary traditions and institutional requirements.
• Yi-Ya provides a shared descriptive backbone—including core concepts and reporting logic—that supports cross-study comparability without enforcing a single protocol.
• Tools, templates, or reference materials (e.g., structured observation logs, tagging sheets, or optional digital tools) may be used optionally, but are not required.
• Authorship, data handling, and ethical approvals remain entirely study-specific, and are determined independently by participating researchers and their institutions.

Expected Outputs & Scientific Goal

• A descriptive model of early phonetic-network formation during the first three years of life.
• Cross-linguistic, cross-study comparable records of early vocal development using shared observational dimensions.
• A framework supporting systematic investigation of early speech emergence prior to stable semantic understanding.

Lead Investigator

William Tang

Founder & Principal Research Initiator

Founder of the “Initial-Final Induction Principle” and initiator of the Yi-Ya LearnSpeak research program.

mrtang@eya.net

Advisor

Jim Tang

Strategic & Technical Advisor

For first-contact emails, please include your lab name and PI.