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Matthias URBAN

CRCN, CNRS

matthias.urban@cnrs.fr

Equipes : DiLiS 

My research revolves around human linguistic diversity: its manifestations and range, its genesis and history, and its cultural and non-linguistic underpinnings. These three foci combine in various ways, but I typically derive insights from comparative approaches.

The range of topics I study is diversified, yet unified in their concern for linguistic diversity. Accordingly, my research transcends several traditional subdisciplines of linguistics (linguistic typology, historical linguistics, language contact studies, philology, quantitative linguistics), and is characterized by methodological pluralism rather than being narrowly restricted to one particular research tradition. Commonly I also establish novel methods or approaches to the research questions I pose.

In terms of the types of data I work with, I likewise have found it most useful to explore the same or similar questions from different perspectives and on the basis of different types of data. Accordingly, I engage both in large-scale comparative work, often with a quantitative bent, based on standardized datasets as well as fine-grained analyses of phenomena in individual languages.
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URBAN, M., 2023, "Linguistic stratigraphy: recovering traces of lost languages in the Central Andes", Cham, Springer, Springer Briefs in Linguistics (Link)  (Cover)

URBAN, M., 2019, "Lost languages of the Peruvian North Coast", Berlin, Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut/Gebr. Mann, Estudios Indiana (Link)  (Cover)

URBAN, M., 2018, "Sprachlandschaften: Über die Rolle von Sprache in der Beziehung zwischen Mensch und Umwelt", Würzburg, Königshausen & Neumann (Link)  (Cover)

URBAN, M., 2008, "Deskriptivität als Subtyp lexikalischer Motivation – Eine quantitative Studie in Synchronie und Diachronie. ", Cologne, Institut für Linguistik, Universität zu Köln., Working Paper Nr. 54 (New Series).

URBAN, M., 2012, "Analyzability and semantic associations in referring expressions: a study in comparative lexicology", Dissertation, Leiden University Center for Linguistics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology / Leiden University (Link)

URBAN, M. (ed), 2024, "The Oxford Guide to the Languages of the Central Andes", Oxford, Oxford University Press (Link)  (Cover)

URBAN, M., 2025, "Combining disparate lines of evidence in the study of the history of language isolates, exemplified with Mochica from Northern Peru. ", in Investigating language isolates: typological and diachronic perspectives, SALABERRI, I., KRAJEWSKA, D., SANTAZILIA, E. & ZULOAGA, E. (eds), Amsterdam/Philadelphia, John Benjamins

URBAN, M., BARBIERI, C. & RADEMAKER, K., 2025, "Archaeolinguistics of the languages of the Andes", in The Oxford Handbook of Language and Archaeology, ROBBEETS, M. & HUDSON, M. (eds), Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 648-663

URBAN, M., 2024, "Introduction: Central Andean linguistic diversity and the diversity of Central Andean linguistics", in The Oxford Guide to the Languages of the Central Andes, URBAN, M. (ed), Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 3-37

URBAN, M., 2024, "Mochica", in The Oxford Guide to the Languages of the Central Andes, URBAN, M. (ed), Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 311-334

URBAN, M., 2024, "Small and extinct languages of Northern Peru", in The Oxford Guide to the Languages of the Central Andes, URBAN, M. (ed), Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 419-437

RANACHER, P., FORKEL, R., EFRAT-KOWALSKY, N., URBAN, M., HEHLI, A., FRANZ, M., BILAND, G., KREIENBÜHL, A., HERMIDA RODRÍGUEZ,, A., AZEVEDO, M., GIEBLER, J., TAKAHASHI, T., NEUREITER, N., VAN GIJN, R., ROOSE, M., VESAKOSKI, O., WEIBEL, R., KAIPING, G. & NORDER, S., 2026, "An open-source geolinguistic data platform for mapping the world’s languages", Journal of Open Humanities Data , 12:47, pp. 1-16

URBAN, M., 2026, "Indigenous nomenclature reveals prehistoric interaction relating to Cacao in Amazonia, and possible diffusion to Mesoamerica. ", Ethnobotany and Economic Botany. , 80, pp. 19-37

URBAN, M., 2025, "How oral traditions develop: a cautionary tale on cultural evolution from the Quechuan-speaking Andes. ", Humanities and Social Sciences Communications , 12, pp. 1604

RANACHER, P., FORKEL, R., EFRAT-KOWALSKY, N., URBAN, M., HEHLI, A., FRANZ, M., BILAND, G., KREIENBÜHL, A., HERMIDA RODRÍGUEZ, A., AZEVEDO, M., ROMAR, M., KLAUSSOVA, A., TAKAHASHI, T., NEUREITER, N., VAN GIJN, R., ROOSE, M., VESAKOSKI, O., WEIBEL, R., KAIPING, G. & NORDER, S., 2025, "A global and interoperable dataset of linguistic distributions derived from the Atlas of the World’s Languages. ", Scientific Data, 12, pp. 1466

HUBER, L., ARANGO-ISAZA, E., SANDOVAL, J., URBAN, M., FRANCALACCI, P., CALÒ, C., MACHOLDT, E., STONEKING, M., ROEWER, L., SEIDEL, M., ACOSTA, O., FUJITA, R., SHIMIZU, K. & BARBIERI, C., 2025, "Human population history on the North Coast of Peru from Y chromosomes and mitogenomes. ", Scientific Reports , 15, pp. 27362

Blanchard-Rooney, A., Kluz, M., Giebler, J. & Urban, M., 2026, "A geographic approach to exploring diachronic language diversity", 19th Methods in Dialectology and Language Diversity International Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 04–08.08.2026

Blanchard-Rooney, A., Kluz, M., Giebler, J. & Urban, M., 2026, "Diachronic language dynamics of Eurasia and beyond in geographic perspective", EVOLANG XVI, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 07–10.04.2026 (poster)

URBAN, M., 2025, "Comment reconstruire les paysages linguistiques du passé : de la linguistique historique à la géographie historique des langues", 91, CNRS Sciences humaines & sociales - La Lettre , pp. 47-49

AGUILAR PANCHI, E., LEE, S., BRODETSKY, E. & URBAN, M., 2023, "Database of Cultivated plants and their names in the indigenous languages of South America. Version 0.9. ", Url