Typology

Question 1

The Counting Problem

Answer 1

→ There are over 7,000 different languages
there is no exact number because:
1) Language Death
2) Dialect vs Language

Question 2

Dialects

Answer 2

= Mutually intelligible forms of a language that differ in systematic ways (e.g., house: /haʊs/ vs. /aʊs/; a sweet drink with bubbles: ‘soda’ vs. ‘pop’)

• -> Phonological
• -> Lexical
• -> Syntactic (Pronouns)

Question 3

Dialect vs Language

Answer 3

Linguistic considerations:
Serbian and Croatian are mutually intelligible varieties of speech.
–> different dialects of the same language

Socio-political considerations:
Serbian and Croatian are spoken in two now-independent countries.
–> different languages

Question 4

Types of Classification

Answer 4

1) Genetic classification
2) Areal classification
3) Typological classification

Question 5

1) Genetic classification

Answer 5

= Classification of languages according to their degree of diachronic relatedness (→ ancestor language)

E.g.: The Indo-European family > Germanic > West Germanic languages: English, German, Dutch, Frisian, Afrikaans, Yiddish

Question 6

2) Areal classification

Answer 6

= Classification of languages according to structural features shared across language boundaries within a geographical area (→ geographical proximity)

E.g.: ‘Balkan Sprachbund’: All languages spoken in the region of the Balkan

Areal classification may not overlap perfectly with genetic classification.

Question 7

3) Typological classification

Answer 7

= Classification of languages according to their structural characteristics in phonology, morphology and syntax (→ grammatical characteristics)

Question 8

3.1) Phonology

Answer 8

1) Vowel systems
2) Consonant systems
3) Suprasegmental systems
4) Syllable structure

Question 9

1) Vowel systems

Answer 9

= Languages can be classified according to the size and pattern of their vowel systems.

Most common vowel system:

• Two unrounded front vowels
• One unrounded low vowel
• Two rounded back vowels

English Vowels: 12 vowels, 8 diphthongs

Question 10

2) Consonant systems

Answer 10

Languages can be classified according to the characteristics of their consonants.

E.g Markedness Differential Hypothesis:
Unmarked characteristics are considered to be universally more common and/or less complex than marked characteristics.
x > y
x is less marked than y

Plosives > Fricatives > Affricates

Language universals:

• There are no languages that lack plosive phonemes.
• If a language has fricative phonemes, then it will also have plosives.
• Languages that have affricates will also have fricatives and plosives.

Question 11

3) Suprasegmental systems

Answer 11

Tone languages can be classified on the basis of two types of tones: Level tones (high, mid and low tones) and contour tones (rising and falling tones).

Language universals:

• If a language has complex contour tones (i.e., rising-falling, or fallingrising), then it will also have simple contour tones (i.e., rising or falling).
• If a language has contour tones, then it will also have level tones.

Question 12

4) Syllable structureMOrp

Answer 12

Languages can be classified according to how onsets and codes are structured (e.g., consonant clusters in codas and onsets).

Language universals:
- If a language permits sequences of consonants in the onset, then it will
also permit single-consonant onsets and syllables with no onset at all.
- If a language permits sequences of consonants in the coda, then it will
also permit single-consonant codas and syllables with no coda at all.

Question 13

3.2) Morphology

Answer 13

1) Isolating languages
2) Polysynthetic languages
3) Agglutinating languages
4) Inflectional/Fusional languages

Question 14

1) Isolating languages

Answer 14

These languages are made up of sequences of free
morphemes. Every meaningful element in the sentence is a separate word.

E.g.:
Thai → Khaw ca haj dek kin khaaw.
he FUTURE give child eat rice

Question 15

Synthetic languages

Answer 15

→ Affixes are attached to free morphemes so that a word can be made up of several meaningful elements.

Question 16

2) Polysynthetic languages

Answer 16

Single words can consist of several roots and affixes that often express sentential meanings.

• Lexical morphemes are incorporated in these languages.
• Multimorphemic words can be complete sentences.

E.g.:
Koryak (in Siberia) → g- as:hIn tIII -lin -au
PAST TENSE shore walk around 3rd person subject PLURAL

Question 17

3) Agglutinating languages

Answer 17

Words can consist of several morphemes (normally a
root and affixes), each of which typically has a single, clearly identifiable function.

E.g.: Turkish → cep -ler -imiz -de -ki -ler -in
pocket PLURAL POSSESSIVE LOCATIVE RELATIVIZER PLURAL GENITIVE

→ Morphological Ideal: One morpheme - one meaning

Question 18

Derivations of Morphological Ideal

Answer 18

1) Cumulation

2) Syncretism

Question 19

1) Cumulation

Answer 19

= When a single affix expresses more than one property within a word, the affix cumulates those properties

Question 20

2) Syncretism

Answer 20

= A single word form corresponds to two grammatical words

Question 21

4) Inflectional/Fusional languages

Answer 21

Words can consist of several morphemes (normally a root and affixes). Affixes often mark several grammatical categories simultaneously.

E.g.: English → walk -s
PRESENT TENSE + 3rd person singular

Question 22

3.3) Syntax

Answer 22

1) Word Order

2) Grammatical hierarchies

Question 23

1) Word Order

Answer 23

Languages can be classified on the basis of the relative order of the subject (S), direct object (O) and verb (V).

→ 6 major word order patterns: 
SOV (e.g., Turkish)
SVO (e.g., English)
VSO (e.g., Welsh)
VOS
OVS
OSV

Question 24

Word Order Universals

Answer 24

• OV word order languages will probably have postpositions rather than
  prepositions.
• VO word order languages will have prepositions rather than postpositions.
• PPs always precede the verb in OV languages, and usually follow the verb
  in VO languages.
• Manner adverbs overwhelmingly precede the verb in OV languages and
  generally follow the verb in VO languages.

Question 25

2) Grammatical hierarchies

Answer 25

Languages can be classified according to the grammatical relations of subject and direct object.

→ Markedness Differential Hypothesis: Unmarked characteristics are considered to be less complex and/or universally more common than marked characteristics.

E.g.: Subjects are less marked than direct objects (subject > direct object).

Question 26

Language Universals

Answer 26

= Structural characteristics that occur in all or most languages

Typologists identify four different types of language universal:

1) Non-implicational absolute universals
2) Non-implicational tendencies
3) Implicational absolute universals
4) Implicational tendencies

Question 27

1) Non-implicational absolute universals

Answer 27

= Structural characteristics shared by each
and every language without exception

E.g.: All languages distinguish between three grammatical units: Word, phrase and clause.

Question 28

2) Non-implicational tendencies

Answer 28

= Structural characteristics shared by most languages

E.g.: The most commonly occurring vowel phoneme is /a/.

Question 29

3) Implicational absolute universals

Answer 29

= A logical relation of implication between two characteristics that is found in every language

E.g.: If a language has inflectional affixes, it will also have derivational affixes.

Question 30

4) Implicational tendencies

Answer 30

= A logical connection between two characteristics that is found in most languages

E.g.: Manner adverbs overwhelmingly precede the verb in OV languages and generally follow the verb in VO languages.

Question 31

Explaining Language Universals: Some Ideas

Answer 31

• Phonological universals may relate to perceptual and articulatory factors.
• Morphological universals may result from language change over time or from the
  distinction between derivation and inflection.
• Syntactic universals may be attributed to the type of branching patterns