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Dan DEDIU

ICREA Research Professor, Université de Barcelone, Espagne

 

dan.dediu@icrea.cat

Personal page

Equipes :   DiLiS 


  Présentation
  Formation et parcours professionnel
  Thèmes de recherche
  Activités administratives
  Responsabilité de projets
  Distinctions ou Financements
  Enseignements
  Activités d’encadrement
  Principales publications et conférences

I was originally trained in Mathematics and Computer Science and, after working for several years in the software industry, I switched back to academia (after studies in Psychology, an MSc in Neurobiology and Behavior, and a PhD in Linguistics). This background allows me to approach the Language Sciences from an inter-disciplinary and quantitative perspective, and I mostly work on questions that involve computers, statistics and empirical data organized in large databases. For more details on my background please see my Personal Website. Google Scholar seems to keep quite an extensive track of my publications with citations, h-index and what not. Some of the software and databases I develop are on GitHub.


FORMATION ET PARCOURS PROFESSIONNEL


 

Education:

2019 - 2021 Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR) en Sciences du langage - Linguistique ["Accreditation to supervise research" in Language Sciences/Linguistics]: Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France (supervisor: François Pellegrino; committee: Jean-Jacques Hublin, Didier Demolin, Susanne Fuchs, Jean-Marie Hombert, Asifa Majid, and Sharon Peperkamp)
2004 - 2006 PhD in Linguistics: Language Evolution and Computation Research Unit, The University of Edinburgh (supervisors: Simon Kirby and Jim Hurford, awarded with no corrections)
2001 (March-Mai) SOCRATES Exchange Program: Max Planck Institute for Human Ethology, Seewiesen, Germany (supervisor: Wulf Schiefenhövel)
2000 - 2002 MSc in Neurobiology and Behaviour: Department of Biology, University of Bucharest, Romania (supervisor: Carmen Strungaru)
1996 - 1998 Undergraduate studies in Psychology: Department of Psychology, University of Bucharest, Romania
1993 - 1997 BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science: Department of Mathematics, University of Bucharest, Romania (thesis adviser: Luminiţa State)

 

Employment, academic positions, affiliations and editorial activity:

2021 - ICREA Research Professor: ICREA and Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2018 - 2021 IDEXLyon Fellow: laboratoire Dynamique Du Langage, Université Lyon 2 and Université de Lyon, France
2018 - present Editorial board member: Linguistic Typology (De Gruyter)
2017 - 2018 EURIAS Fellow: Collegium de Lyon - Iinstitut d'Études Avancées, Université de Lyon, France
2017 - 2019 Affiliation: Language & Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2016 (February) Visiting Professor: Empirical Foundations of Linguistics International Chair, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, Pairs, France
2015 - present Executive editor (with Bart de Boer): Journal of Language Evolution (Oxford University Press)
2008 - 2012 Senior investigator and Project leader "Genetic biasing in language and speech": Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2011 - present Research Fellow (affiliation): Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen
2008 - 2012 Research staff: Neurobiology of Language Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2007 - 2008 ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow: Linguistics and English Language, The University of Edinburgh, UK
2007 Research Associate: Linguistics and English Language, The University of Edinburgh, UK, AHRC-funded project (April McMahon, April – June) & DTRF short grant (Jim Hurford, January – February)
1997 - 2004 Software engineer, Project manager, Technical Leader: Softwin S.R.L., Bucharest, Romania (with stages in Rennes, France; Paris, France and Vaasa, Finland)

 

THÈMES DE RECHERCHE


 

During my academic career I have worked on several big themes, mostly concerning language origins, evolution and diversity. A non-exhaustive list of questions my work attempts to answer is:

  • How and when did arguably "modern" language evolve? Did we share it with other humans, such as the Neanderthals? What sort of empirical evidence can be used to answer these questions?
  • What are the genetic foundations of language and speech? How do they interact with the environment, and, more importantly, the cultural evolution of language?
  • How can we infer the rates of change of structural aspects of language? How do Bayesian phylogenetic methods compare with other proposals and how can we estimate this latent stability using psychometric approaches?
  • How is the variation in the infrastructure of language and speech patterned between individuals and groups? How does it affect (bias) language change and linguistic diversity?
  • In particular, how does variation in vocal tract anatomy and physiology influence phonetic and phonological cross-linguistic diversity?
  • How do linguistic complexity and robustness emerge, how are they maintained, and so they vary across languages? Is there a connection to variation in environmental conditions and speakers?

 

ACTIVITÉS ADMINISTRATIVES


 

Administrative responsibilities:

2019 - LABEX ASLAN (steering committee member & theme coordinator), Université de Lyon, France
2010 - 2017 The library committee (member), Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2012 The WEB committee (temporary member), Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2012 Online forum and wiki for statistics with R (setup & moderation), Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2009 - 2012 Biological infrastructure of language series of meetings (co-organizer), Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2008, 2009 Foundations of evolutionary theory reading group (co-organizer), Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

 

RESPONSABILITÉ DE PROJETS


 

Principal Investigator:

2018 - 2021 IDEXLyon Fellowship: Variation, Change and Complexity in Linguistic and Health-related Behaviours (V2C; approx. €1,200,000), Université de Lyon, Université Lumière Lyon 2 (Laboratoire Dynamique du Langage) & Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (Laboratoire HESPER), France
2012 - 2017 NWO Vidi grant 276-70-022: The influence of genetic biases on the evolution, universal properties and diversity of speech and language (G[ɜ]bils; €800,000), Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2007 - 2008 ESRC UK Postdoctoral Research Fellowship PTA-026-27-1569: Non-spurious Correlations Between Genetic and Linguistic Inter-population Diversities in the Context of Human Evolution (approx. $70,000), The University of Edinburgh, UK

 

DISTINCTIONS OU FINANCEMENTS


 

Grants and Awards:

2018 - 2021 IDEXLyon Fellowship, Université de Lyon, France
2017 - 2018 EURIAS Fellowship, Collegium de Lyon, France
2012 - 2017 The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Vidi grant no. 276-70-022 "Genetic biasing in language and speech", Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2007 - 2008 ESRC (UK) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, The University of Edinburgh, UK
2004 - 2006 ORS (Overseas Research Students) UK Award no. 2003014001, The University of Edinburgh, UK
2004 - 2006 Studentship College of Humanities and Social Science, The University of Edinburgh, UK
2001 (March-Mai) SOCRATES Exchange Program, Max Planck Institute for Human Ethology, Seewiesen, Germany
1993 - 1997 Studentship, Department of Mathematics, University of Bucharest, Romania

 

ENSEIGNEMENTS


 

Teaching, Lectures and Workshops:

2018 - 2020 Lectures Sciences du Langage, Master Program in Cognitive Sciences, Université Lyon 2, France
2019 Lectures Statistics with R, Master Program in Cognitive Sciences, Université Lyon 2, France
2016 Lecture Language and speech are cool for AI, Master's Program in Artificial Intelligence, Radboud University, Nijmegen
2016 Lectures Biases in language evolution, Summer School of Linguistics, Litomyšl, Czech Republic
2016 Lectures Language, genes and evolution, Empirical Foundations of Linguistics, Université Sorbonne Nouvele Paris 3, Paris, France
2015 Lecture Language origins and evolution, Radboud Summer School, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2014 - 2017 Lectures Genetics and evolution of language, University of Edinburgh, UK
2014 Lectures Genetics and language, LOT Summer School, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2013 Lectures Genetics and language, LSA Summer School, Ann Arbor, USA
2013 Lectures Genetics and language, DGfS Sommerschule 2013, Berlin, Germany
2013 Lecture Nature and nurture, International Max Planck Research School, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2011 - 2015 Lecture Genetic and linguistic diversities, Master Program in Cognitive Neurosciences, Donders Institute, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2010, 2012, 2013 Course Introduction to statistics using R, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2011, 2013 Lectures Language and genetics: A brief overview, University of Edinburgh, UK
2006, 2007 Lecture Genetics and human evolution, University of Edinburgh, UK
2004 - 2007 Tutorials: Linguistics 1, Statistics and Experimental Design, Psychology 1 and Psychology 2, University of Edinburgh, UK

 

ACTIVITÉS D’ENCADREMENT


 

Supervision, steering and reading committees:

2020 - 2023 PhD thesis supervisor: M. Josserand, Université Lumière Lyon 2, France
2020 MSc internship and thesis supervisor: M. Josserand, Université Lumière Lyon 2, France
2020 PhD defense committee member: I. Douros, Université de Lorraine, France
2020 PhD steering committee (comités de suivi de thèse): C. Voirin, D. Valente, L. Mouton, Université Lumière Lyon 2, France; L. Vandeveer, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France
2019 - 2020 MSc internship and thesis co-supervisor: E. Jennings, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2018 - 2021 PhD thesis co-supervisor: L. Siqueira do Prado, G. Abdalla, Université Lyon 1, France
2019 - 2022 PhD thesis supervisor: N. Ulrich, R. Anselme, Université Lumière Lyon 2, France
2019 PhD defense committee member & rapporteur: A. Suire, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution, Montpellier, France
2018 PhD defense committee member: W. Schueller, INRIA Bordeaux Sud-Ouest, France
2013 - 2018 PhD thesis main supervisor: R. Janssen Let the agents do the talking: On the influence of vocal tract anatomy on speech during ontogeny, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (awarded 13/09/2018)
2017 PhD reading committee: V. Kolipakam A holistic approach to understanding pre-history, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2017 - present PhD thesis steering committee external member: V. Kogan, PhD in Cognitive Science & Language, University of Barcelona, Spain
2016 - present PhD thesis co-supervisor: J. Collins, PhD Program, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2015 - 2016 MSc thesis external supervisor: V. Kogan, MSc in Psychology of Language, University of Edinburgh, UK
2012 PhD defense committee: H. Xiang The language networks of the brain, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
2011, 2012, 2014 MSc thesis co-supervisor: E. Meeussen Colour blindness and its contribution to colour vocabulary, MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2010 - 2012 PhD thesis auxiliary supervisor: V. Kolipakam, PhD program, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

 

PRINCIPALES PUBLICATIONS ET CONFÉRENCES
AFFICHER LA VERSION LONGUE / VERSION COURTE


Articles de revues
 

Dediu, D., Moisik, S., Baetsen, W., Bosman, A. & Waters-Rist, A., 2021, "The vocal tract as a time machine: inferences about past speech and language from the anatomy of the speech organs", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B , 376:1824, pp. 20200192 (doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0192, Full text)


 

Josserand, M., Tang, M., Pellegrino, F. & Dediu, D., 2021, "Interindividual variation refuses to go away: A Bayesian computer model of language change in communicative networks", Frontiers in Psychology, 12, pp. 2176 (doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.626118)


 

Dediu, D., 2021, "Tone and genes: New cross-linguistic data and methods support the weak negative effect of the “derived” allele of ASPM on tone, but not of Microcephalin", PLoS ONE, 16:6, pp. e0253546 (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253546)


 

Josserand, M., Meeussen, E., Majid, A. & Dediu, D., 2021, "Environment and culture shape both the colour lexicon and the genetics of colour perception", Scientific Reports, 11, pp. 19095 (doi:10.1038/s41598-021-98550-3, Full text)


 

Siqueira do Prado, L., Allemann, S., Viprey, M., Schott, A.M., Dediu, D. & Dima, A., 2020, "Quantification and visualisation methods of data-driven chronic care delivery pathways: protocol for a systematic review and content analysis", BMJ Open, 10:3, pp. e033573 (doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033573, full text)


 

Dediu, D. & Moisik, S., 2019, "Pushes and pulls from below: Anatomical variation, articulation and sound change", Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 4:1, pp. 7 (doi:10.5334/gjgl.646)


 

Janssen, R., Moisik, S. & Dediu, D., 2019, "The effects of larynx height on vowel production are mitigated by the active control of articulators", Journal of Phonetics, 74, pp. 1-17 (doi:10.1016/j.wocn.2019.02.002)


 

Blasi, D., Moran, S., Moisik, S., Widmer, P., Dediu, D. & Bickel, B., 2019, "Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration", Science, 363:6432, pp. eaav3218 (doi: 10.1126/science.aav3218 )


 

Allemann, S., Dediu, D. & Dima, A., 2019, "Beyond Adherence Thresholds: A Simulation Study of the Optimal Classification of Longitudinal Adherence Trajectories From Medication Refill Histories", Frontiers in Pharmacology, 10, pp. 383 (doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.00383)


 

Dediu, D., Janssen, R. & Moisik, S., 2019, "Weak biases emerging from vocal tract anatomy shape the repeated transmission of vowels", Nature Human Behaviour, - (doi: 10.1038/s41562-019-0663-x)


 

Gialluisi, A., Dediu, D., Francks, C. & Fisher, S., 2013, "Persistence and transmission of recessive deafness and sign language: New insights from village sign languages", European Journal of Human Genetics, 21, pp. 894-896 (doi:10.1038/ejhg.2012.292)


 

Dediu, D. & Levinson, S., 2013, "On the antiquity of language: The reinterpretation of Neandertal linguistic capacities and its consequences", Frontiers in Language Sciences, 4, pp. 397 (doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00397)


 

Dediu, D. & Cysouw, M., 2013, "Some structural aspects of language are more stable than others: A comparison of seven methods", PLoS ONE, 8, pp. e55009 (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055009)


 

Dediu, D. & Levinson, S., 2012, "Abstract profiles of structural stability point to universal tendencies, family-specific factors, and ancient connections between languages", PLoS ONE, 7:9, pp. e45198 (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045198)


 

Dediu, D., 2011, "A Bayesian phylogenetic approach to estimating the stability of linguistic features and the genetic biasing of tone", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London/B, 278:1704, pp. 474-479 (doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.1595)


 

Dediu, D., 2009, "Genetic biasing through cultural transmission: Do simple Bayesian models of language evolution generalize?", Journal of Theoretical Biology, 259, pp. 552-561 (doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2009.04.004)


 

Dediu, D. & Ladd, D., 2007, "Linguistic tone is related to the population frequency of the adaptive haplogroups of two brain size genes, ASPM and Microcephalin", PNAS, 104, pp. 10944-10949 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0610848104)


Communications avec actes édités
 

Dediu, D. & Moisik, S., 2019, "Biology matters: Variation in vocal tract anatomy and language", proc. of 23rd International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (ISTAL 23), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2017, Topintzi, N., Lavidas, N. & Moumtzi, M. (eds), School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 23, pp. 19-33, 23rd International Symposium papers on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics - Selected Papers (Full text)


Conférences invitées dans colloque
 

Dediu, D., 2019, "Speech is not isolated from the body of the speakers: how variation in vocal tract anatomy affects phonetic and phonological diversity", proc. of Embodied Speech International Workshop, Amphithéâtre Durkheim, Université Sorbonne 1 rue Victor Cousin, 75005 Paris, France, 8-9 April 2019 (abstract)


Film ou radio
 

Kourtchine, D., Dediu, D. & Widmer, P., 2020, "L'agriculture et les labiodentales, c'est quoi le rapport ?", France/Germany, TV ARTE: Reconnexion, 8 minutes (video online (ARTE), Youtube)


Logiciel
 

Dediu, D., 2009-2010, "BayesLang", pp. Bayesian inference program for linguistic structural data. (Source code)




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