Areal Distribution and Typological Diversity of Languages Spoken in Europe and North and Central Asia, Vol. 1 and 2

Vol. II
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-3-89586-168-0
Verlag: LINCOM

Buch, Englisch, Band 17, 260 Seiten

Reihe: LINCOM Studies in Languages Typology

The primary goal of this work is to investigate typological diversity of languages spoken in Europe and north and central Asia. Languages and language families found in the area are described in Vol. 1 with the help of maps. This is followed by a description of the main geographical regions in Europe and north and central Asia. The data base used in statistical research of the typological relationships of languages is described in Vol. 2. The number of languages described in the data base is 94. Typological distance of languages can be characterized with the help of information on combinations of linguistic categories. The data consists of information on variables collected from phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic levels. It is shown that the languages which are close relatives are often grouped together, but that these relationships are re-organized, when the languages are investigated with respect to some specific typological properties, such as phonological systems or word order. It is also shown that the climatic zones are stronger indicators than watershed areas in explaining distribution of languages.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Suihkonen, Pirkko

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Historische & Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Einzelne Sprachen & Sprachfamilien
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Regionalwissenschaften, Regionalstudien

Über Autor(innen)

Pirkko Suihkonen, University of Helsinki