The object and method of linguistic typology

Лекция №1

1. The typological method in Contrastive Linguistics

2. Language universals

3. The notion of “type” in typology

4. Metalanguage

5. Taxonomy of linguistic typologies

In order to understand the common and specific features between objects it is necessary to apply the typological (contrastive) method. This method is quite universal both in science and in real life. As a result one may classify objects into type-groups (types). For example, analysing you, students assembled here, I might say that you represent different types. What types? Some of you are boys and some are girls, some are relatively tall, while others are shorter, some are intellectually more advanced than others, and psychologically you also fall into some types, such as introverts and extraverts. So, you may be contrasted to each other from different angles and represent different types. These types are based on different principles. If I ask you what type of human beings you, probably, personally belong to, you wouldn’t know what to say, because you wouldn’t know what I mean by the term type. Do I mean thecolour of your hair, or your physique, or your intelligence, or your psychological type? But after I qualify the meaning of type you would know where you belong. In the same way languages as well as their units and definite linguistic phenomena may be contrasted to establish their common and distinctive features. / e.g./ 1) tall (high) - высокий; 2) beautiful – handsome – pretty – nice, 3) personal pronouns: I know this (I don’t know this) – (я) знаю это/я не знаю этого – (мин) оны белә м/ (мин) оны бельмим (thus, languages may be classified into pro-drop and non-pro-drop languages).

Typological classification differs from the genetic one insofar as does not take into account origin. If I try to apply the genetic factor to analyse human beings I would be interested in their nationalities, and stocks, and families and would know nothing about their intellectual, psychological and even physical properties (though sometimes the results may overlap). In the same way, languages may be classified genetically or typologically. Thus, Russian, English, French represent Indo-European languages of different families. In certain features, though, genetically non-related languages may show more coincidence than kindred tongues (pro-drop languages: Italian, Spanish, Russian, Tatar). As for typological classification of languages, this will be discussed further. What is necessary to stress here is that the typological method applies to examine the qualities of the contrasted objects in order, to establish their similar and divergent features.

THE TYPOLOGICAL METHOD IN CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS. Linguistic Typology is part and parcel of Contrastive Linguistics, which is a general framework for it, but in this framework typology has its own object and inventory of techniques, though it applies the same method.

There are several disciplines in linguistics which share this method: 1) comparative linguistics, 2) areal linguistics, 3) comparative (contrastive) typology, 4) linguistic typology.

The aim of comparative linguistics is to establish genetic relationship of kindred languages and reconstruct a protolanguage. /e.g./E: two ~F: deux ~R: два E: two ~F: deux ~R: два E: establish ~F: etablir ~ R: установить The protolanguage is the presently dead language that gave rise to a number of related langiages, for example, the common Germanic or the common Indo-European language. /e.g./ E. mother ~G. Mutter ~Sweedish moder < Common Germanic MOÐ ER < Indo-EuropeanMATER.

The aim of areal linguistics is to establish common features due to extralinguistic influence; it examines language contacts which result in borrowings (English and French in the 11 century in close contact resulting in a vocabulary change) by 70%, cf.: E: part< F: partir, E: technic < F: technique, E: finish < F: finir, E: reason < F: raison.

The aim of areal comparative typology is to establish common and distinctive features of a limited number of kindred languages (/e.g./ Turkic languages).

The aim of linguistic typology is a) to establish common distinctive features irrespective of origin; b) to establish universals and classify languages. It is clear that Linguistic Typology is characterized by the most general perspective unlike the other approaches.

LANGUAGE UNIVERSALS. Language universals are phenomena characterizing all languages and all levels and systems of language. They may be classified according to various principles. For example, according to the statistic principle there are unrestricted (absolute) universals opposed to restricted (relative) universals (some prefer the term “tendency” instead of “universal”). According to language units, there are phonetic, morphological, lexical and syntactic universals. See the following:

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