Linguistic typology: Morphology
-
Matthew Baerman
and
Greville G Corbett
Abstract
Typology in its modern form is connected with the search for universals. This works to the advantage of certain types of questions, those which allow a more or less coherent answer for any language. Phonology, syntax, and semantics are usually the starting point, and such topics as phonological inventories, word order, and the range of expressible semantic distinctions constitute the bulk of research. These also form the core questions of general linguistics, so this research emphasis is only to be expected. Conversely, one area that receives relatively little attention from typologists is morphology. This too is hardly surprising: of all the aspects of language, morphology is the most language-specific and hence least generalizable. Indeed, even the very presence of a meaningful morphological component is language-specific.
© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- What or where can we do better? Some personal reflections on (the tenth anniversary of) Linguistic Typology
- Wider and deeper
- What is universal about typology?
- Extent and limits of linguistic diversity as the remit of typology – but through constraints on what is diversity limited?
- Representative sampling and typological explanation: A phenomenological lament
- Typology and linguistic theory in the past decade: A personal view
- A note on linguistic theory and typology
- The importance of typology in explaining recurrent sound patterns
- Linguistic typology: Morphology
- Pre-established categories don't exist: Consequences for language description and typology
- Linguistic typology requires crosslinguistic formal categories
- Typological approaches to lexical semantics
- Chinese linguistics and typology: The state of the art
- Interfaces between linguistic typology and child language research
- Typology in American linguistics: An appraisal of the field
- What, if anything, is typology?
- Typology in the 21st century: Major current developments
- Some thoughts on the reason for the lesser status of typology in the USA as opposed to Europe
- Methodology and the empirical base of typology
- Where's phonology in typology?
- Linguistic typology and theory construction: Common challenges ahead
- On the relationship of typology to theoretical syntax
- A few lessons from typology
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- What or where can we do better? Some personal reflections on (the tenth anniversary of) Linguistic Typology
- Wider and deeper
- What is universal about typology?
- Extent and limits of linguistic diversity as the remit of typology – but through constraints on what is diversity limited?
- Representative sampling and typological explanation: A phenomenological lament
- Typology and linguistic theory in the past decade: A personal view
- A note on linguistic theory and typology
- The importance of typology in explaining recurrent sound patterns
- Linguistic typology: Morphology
- Pre-established categories don't exist: Consequences for language description and typology
- Linguistic typology requires crosslinguistic formal categories
- Typological approaches to lexical semantics
- Chinese linguistics and typology: The state of the art
- Interfaces between linguistic typology and child language research
- Typology in American linguistics: An appraisal of the field
- What, if anything, is typology?
- Typology in the 21st century: Major current developments
- Some thoughts on the reason for the lesser status of typology in the USA as opposed to Europe
- Methodology and the empirical base of typology
- Where's phonology in typology?
- Linguistic typology and theory construction: Common challenges ahead
- On the relationship of typology to theoretical syntax
- A few lessons from typology
