The theme: comparative typology as a branch of linguistic typology

The theme: COMPARATIVE TYPOLOGY AS A BRANCH OF LINGUISTIC TYPOLOGY

* См. инструкции в примечаниях к слайдам.

The plan:

• 1. General overview of the subject
• 2. Tasks, objectives and approaches
• 3. Types of comperative typology

Comparative typology

Typology is a classification of structural types across languages.
Typology is the study of patterns that occur systematically across landuages
Typology represents an approach or theoretical framework to the study of language that contrasts with prior approaches.

Therefore, typology may be divided into:

Non-linguistic typology is the subject matter of the sciences except
linguistics.
Linguistic typology

Comparative Typology and Literary criticism have a number of similarities:

• Comparative typology is one of the branches of General Linguistics, which studies the systems of languages comparatively, also finds common laws of languages and establishes differences and similarities between them

• linguistic comparison deals with identifying universal principles of thecomparative description of the systems of national languages. Literary criticism establishes general principles of typological description of national literature;

• both sciences deal with identifying systemic features and discover typological isomorphism which can be conditioned structurally, genetically and geographically, etc.

Comparative typology

1

• Comparative typology shows special interest in the so-called exotic or nonstudied languages, e.g. languages of ethnicities of South-East Asia, Africa, Ocean side or American Indian tribes. Still, the data of well-known, expanded and wellstudied languages the similar extent become the subject matter of a typological study.

2

• Comparative typology not only systemizes, generalizes and classifies the facts of language isomorphism and allomorphism but also explains them. The majority of prestigious linguistic theories have their own typological agenda aimed at theoretical analysis of structurally different languages, their location, and genetic origin.

3

• Nowadays many terms are used for defining this very type of science, such as Linguistic Typology, Comparative Typology, and Contrastive Linguistucs, Charaxterology and so on. However, with the help of analyzing historical background, we will be able to realize the main notion of this branch of Linguistics.

Questions for self-control

1. What does the term typology‘ mean?

• 2. Do we use this term in everyday life?
• 3. What is the role of Typology in Linguistics?

• 4. What tasks does this subject have?
• 5. What is the necessity of learning typology?

• 6. What is the difference between Linguistic and Non-Linguistic typology?