معرفی
Guus Kroonen serves as Professor MSO at the Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics within the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen. He leads the Roots of Europe research group and maintains an active international research profile that bridges linguistics, archaeology, and genetics to investigate European language prehistory.
His educational background includes a MA in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (cum laude) from Leiden University (1998-2003), a MA in Nordic Languages and Literature from the University of Amsterdam (1997-2003), PhD studies in Indo-European linguistics at Leiden University Center for Linguistics (2004-2008), and a research stay at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (2013-2014).
Professor Kroonen specializes in historical and comparative linguistics with particular expertise in Indo-European and Nordic linguistics, archaeolinguistics, and etymology. His research uniquely integrates linguistic reconstruction with archaeological evidence and ancient DNA analysis to investigate language spread and cultural transitions in prehistoric Europe. He has pioneered methodological approaches that challenge traditional narratives about European prehistory by demonstrating how linguistic evidence can be systematically combined with genetic and archaeological data.
His recent publication record shows a strong trend toward interdisciplinary research that combines linguistic analysis with genetic data, particularly focusing on the spread of Germanic, Celtic, and other Indo-European language branches across Europe. His work increasingly employs ancient DNA evidence to test linguistic hypotheses about language spread and population movements during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.
- Sapere Aude - Ung Eliteforsker (2012)
- ERC Starting Grant (2016)
- Foundation for language and culture award (2024)
- Annual Book Award (Scholarly) of the Society for American Archaeology (2024)
Professor Kroonen has secured substantial research funding through prestigious grants including the ERC Starting Grant project 'The Linguistic Roots of Europe's Agricultural Transition' (2017-2023) and the Riksbank's Jubilee Fund project 'Maritima möteten' (2021-2026). His work has generated significant public interest, with numerous media appearances explaining complex interdisciplinary research to general audiences, particularly regarding the connections between ancient DNA evidence and language spread.
He leads the Roots of Europe research group at the University of Copenhagen, which brings together linguists, archaeologists, and geneticists to develop innovative methodologies for studying language prehistory. The group has established groundbreaking approaches that combine traditional linguistic reconstruction with ancient DNA analysis, creating new pathways for understanding human prehistory through multiple lines of evidence.
