Sebastian Fedden

Sebastian Fedden is Professor of General Linguistics at Sorbonne Nouvelle University, with additional teaching engagements at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (2022-24). His administrative responsibilities include membership in the Conseil de Gestion (ILPGA), representation of LACITO at the Doctoral College, editorship of LACITO Publications, and coordination of research axes in the Labex-EFL project on grammatical typology.

Fedden's research explores linguistic diversity through:

• Core frameworks: Canonical typology and language documentation
• Regional expertise: Papuan languages (Mian, Telefol, Tifal, Kibiri)
• Theoretical foci: Nominal classification systems (gender/classifiers), agreement phenomena, argument realization
• Interdisciplinary connections: Cognition-categorization interfaces, psycholinguistic validation

His recent publications (2020-2022) demonstrate methodological diversity—combining discourse analysis, computational modeling, and diachronic approaches—to examine grammatical systems in Papuan languages, particularly agreement mechanics in Mian and grammaticalization pathways in Trans New Guinea.

Fedden actively supervises doctoral candidates researching endangered languages: Moisés A. Veláquez (Kibiri grammar) and Neige Rochant (Baga Pukur grammar). He secures significant research funding including the ANR-DFG binational project Complex Predicates in Languages: Emergence, Typology, Evolution (2021-24) and ESRC UK Grant Optimal categorisation (2018-22).

He coordinates research networks through LACITO and the Surrey Morphology Group, and organizes major linguistics events including DGfS workshops and the Current Trends in Papuan Linguistics conference.