Dr Mathieu Beaudouin

Dr Mathieu Beaudouin is a linguist specialising in the Sino-Tibetan language family, with a particular focus on Tangut and the Horpa languages (Gyalrongic–Qiangic). He holds undergraduate degrees in Chinese Studies, History, Anthropology, and Law, as well as master’s degrees in Linguistics and Chinese Studies, and a PhD in Linguistics.

His doctoral thesis, A Grammar of Tangut: Phonology and Morphology (Inalco, 2023, 813 pp.), synthesises previous scholarship, introduces new analyses of Tangut phonology and morphosyntax, and offers the first synchronic account of Tangut grounded in systematic comparison with its modern relatives, the Horpa languages, whose close relationship to Tangut he helped establish.

Since his viva, Dr Beaudouin has collaborated with scholars specialising in living Horpa languages, participating directly in fieldwork-based documentation. This research aims to refine the reconstruction of the phonology and grammar of Tangut and of Proto-Horpa, the common ancestor of Tangut and the Horpa languages.

At the University of Cambridge, his current project focuses on the creation of a historically annotated and parsed corpus of Tangut texts, designed to facilitate research on Tangut syntax—a comparatively underexplored domain. This corpus will support the development of a comprehensive published grammar of Tangut, a language central to Sino-Tibetan historical linguistics, medieval Inner and East Asian history, and Buddhology.

A former professional violist, Dr Beaudouin joined the Cambridge University Orchestra upon his arrival in Cambridge and regularly performs in concerts across the colleges.