Ministry of higher and secondary special education of the republic uzbekistan state world languages university

The authors
I. Comparative Typology as a branch of General Linguistics


1.1. Comparative Typology: subject matter, types, tasks,
approaches



Key points for discussion:

• 
  What does the term ‘typology’ mean?
  
• 
  Do we use this term in everyday life?
  
• 
  What is the role of Typology in Linguistics?
  
• 
  What tasks does this subject have?
  
• 
  What is the necessity of learning typology?
  

Comparative typology is a field of linguistics that studies and classifies languages according to their structural and functional features. Its aim is to describe and explain the common properties and the structural diversity of the world's languages.
According to William Croft’s book “Typology and Universals”, the term ‘typology’ is roughly synonymous with ‘taxonomy’/’classification’ and given the following definition:

From etymological point of view, the word typology consists of two Greek morphemes: a) typos means “type” and b) logos means “science”. Typology is a branch of science, which is typical to all sciences without any exception. In this respect their typological method is not limited with the sphere of one science. It has a universal rise. Therefore, typology may be divided into:

1. 
   Non-linguistic typology
   
2. 
   Linguistic typology
   

Non-linguistic typology is the subject matter of the sciences except linguistics. It can be political typology, medical, historical, botanic, psychological, mathematical or economic typology as well. General and solitary differences and similarities are typical to all sciences. Some branches isolate systemic comparison into an independent sub-branch within the frames of a more general science: e.g. comparative psychology first mentioned in the works of Aristotle who described psychological similarities between animals and human beings. One the most well-known representatives of Comparative Psycho­logy was Charles Darwin.