Language typology and word order

Comparative typology in English and Uzbek languages

Comparative typology is a branch of linguistics comparing languages in order to establish their similarities and differences. Its object is not singular and individual cases of similarity and difference but those which are common for large groups of language elements. Comparative typology classifies languages according to their structure. Although languages may differ in their material (i.e. have no words of the same root, or common morphemes) their structure (i.e. relations between the elements, functions of the elements) may be similar.

• Comparative typology is a branch of linguistics comparing languages in order to establish their similarities and differences. Its object is not singular and individual cases of similarity and difference but those which are common for large groups of language elements. Comparative typology classifies languages according to their structure. Although languages may differ in their material (i.e. have no words of the same root, or common morphemes) their structure (i.e. relations between the elements, functions of the elements) may be similar.
• English – Indo European Family – Germanic – Analytic – SVO
• Uzbek – Turkic family – Southeastern – Uighur-chagatay – Agglutinative – SOV

Examples

Uzbek U xonani tozalayotgan edi (Verb-final language)

He/she [subject] the room-[Object]+[Acc] tidying up [Past continuous] was [auxiliary

verb]

English “She was tidying up the room” (Verb-initial language)

(Nouns marked for case + Verbs marked for tense)

Uzbek U qalamni sindirdi (SOV)

He [subject] the pen-[Object]+[Acc] broke [past]

English “He broke the pen” (SVO)

(Nouns marked for case + Verbs marked for tense)

Uzbek (Men) stol ustida 5 ta olma(lar)ni ko’ryapman. (Pro-drop language)

I [subject] on the table [adverbial modifier of place] 5 apples [object]+[acc] seeing

[present continuous]

English “I see five apples on the table” [subject+verb+object+adv.mod.]

(Nouns marked for number (sing./pl.) + (Verbs agree with subject in person)

Uzbek (Biz) senga ishonamiz

We [subject] you [object] + in [acc.] believe [verb, present simple]

English “We believe in you”

(Verbs agree with subject in number + Verbs marked for tense)

Categories	English	Uzbek
Nouns marked for case	no	yes
Nouns marked for number (sing./pl.)	yes	yes
Verbs marked for tense	yes	yes
Verbs agree with subject in person	yes	yes
Verbs agree with subject in number	yes	yes
Word order	SVO	SOV
Verb-initial/ verb-final	Verb-initial	Verb-final
Type of language	Analytic	Agglutinative/ pro-drop

Verb-initial languages always have auxiliary verb preceding the main verb (as in English was smoking), while verb-final languages have auxiliary verbs following the main verb.

Bibliography

• Atkinson, M., Kilby, D., and Roca, I. (1982) Foundations of General Linguistics. Allen and Unwin.
• Bickel, B. (2017) "What is typology? - a short note" (PDF). Available from: ˂www.uni-leipzig.de˃ (in German) [Accessed 6 March 2017]
• Charles F. Meyer. (2009) “Introducing English linguistics”. Cambridge University Press, pp.19-46
• Kornfilt, J. (1990) “Turkish and configurationality” in Current issues of Turkish linguistics. Proceedings of ICTL V, B. Rona Eds. Ankara: Hitit Yayinevi.
• Mark C. Baker (2015) “Formal Generative Typology”, in Bernd Heine and Heiko Narrog., 4th Eds. The Oxford handbook of linguistic analysis. Oxford University Press, pp. 926-951
• Yule, G. (2010) The Study of Language. 4th Eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Thank you for your attention!