This course is an overview of the ways in which the languages of the world differ in their sound systems and word structure. We are going to ask and answer such questions as “What are the common features that languages share?” and “How can we account for differences among languages?”. The course will consist of the following parts:
An introduction to linguistic typology (its aims; types of cross-linguistic generalizations)
Sound systems (consonant and vowel inventories, ordering of sounds, syllable structure)
Types of word structure (types of morphemes, the ways in which morphemes are arranged in words, the means of expressing lexical and grammatical meanings)
Types of sentence structure (types of word order; agreement; government)
The worlds of words (expressing lexical meanings; words for, e.g., body parts, kinship terms, numeral systems)
Language change (the ways in which languages develop grammar and situations where grammar and word structure become simplified)
External contexts (the role of cultural, social-demographic and environmental factors)
Throughout the course we will analyse examples from a variety of languages without adopting any theoretical framework. The course can serve as a starting point for future explorations of, e.g., the role of social factors such as population size in the development/loss of language structure; the extent to which patterns in language are universal or culture-specific; and the degree to which more familiar languages such as English and Polish share features found in other languages.
- Teacher: Marcin Kilarski