Typology
Typology is a sub-field of linguistics concerned with cross-linguistic comparison. This includes both searching for common features (universals) and determining the limits of variation among natural languages, typically demonstrated by two or more traits co-occurring in a given language (typology ).
Language diversity, field work, language documentation and description
Cross-linguistic comparison is founded on field work, language documentation and language description. The General Linguistics profile provides the opportunity to explore the foundations, methods and tools (both software and hardware) we use and to put them into practice in our Field Work seminar.
Modelling
The insights we gain concerning common and distinguishing traits among the world’s languages can help us make general statements about the nature of language itself and develop models of what characterizes human language and how it functions.
Diachrony/Grammaticalization
Language comparison is not just limited to comparing language structures and practices from all over the world, but also includes observing the different historical evolutionary stages of languages (language change). This enables us to not only take stock of linguistic diversity, but also to understand processes of diversification and to explain why languages are not all the same but rather in a constant state of change.
Language Acquisition
Language acquisition has so far mostly been described for European national languages in a Western setting. The analysis of acquisition of non-European languages, on the other hand, is still in its early stages.
