Alex François has conducted fieldwork on a number of hitherto undescribed – and often endangered – Oceanic (Austronesian) languages from northern Vanuatu (Banks & Torres Islands) and eastern Solomon Islands. He works on the description and analysis of these languages, both in their typological and historical dimensions. Beyond linguistics, his projects also aim at documenting the oral literature, poetry and music of these communities, as well as supporting the maintenance of endangered languages. 

François is the author of Araki: A disappearing language of Vanuatu (2002), and La Sémantique du Prédicat en Mwotlap (2003). In 2013, with ethnomusicologist Monika Stern, he published a selection of musical recordings from northern Vanuatu. He also coauthored with Jean-Michel Charpentier a major linguistic atlas of French Polynesia, released in 2015.

In recent years, he has been (co-)heading three major linguistic projects:

• [2022-2025] ComPLETE, an international (French-German) project on the typology of Complex predicates
• [2024—] EvoSem, a research project on the typology of semantic change, and on “dialexification”
• [2025—] HéLiCéO, a research consortium built around the documentation, analysis and promotion of Pacific languages.

François’ permanent affiliation is with Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris), in the department “LaTTiCe” (Langues, Textes, Traitements informatiques, Cognition). 

Career highlights

• Senior Researcher (2018– ) at CNRS–LaTTiCe (Langues, Textes, Traitements informatiques, Cognition, of French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique).
• Head of Department (2015-18) at CNRS–LaCiTO.
• Visiting Fellow, Linguistics, CHL, ANU (2009-2012).
• Research Fellow (2002-18) at CNRS–LaCiTO (Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale, of French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique).
• Lecturer, Univ. Paris-3 Sorbonne Nouvelle (1999-2002).

BA Hons (Paris), MA (Paris), PhD (Sorbonne, Paris), Habilitation (Paris)

Elected member of Academia Europaea, section Linguistic studies.

• Phonological systems and sound change
• Typology of polysemy and lexical semantics
• Pragmatics of face-to-face conversation
• Historical linguistics
• Language geography and areal phenomena
• Language documentation
• Grammar writing
• Models of language diversification
• Typology of semantic change
• Typology of sound change
• Verbal art, folkloristics
• Ethnomusicology