A few lessons from typology

Abstract

Typology has a low profile in much of American linguistics, especially outside of phonology (Nichols 2007, Hyman 2007, Van Valin 2007). Yet, as I will suggest, the study of the results and methods of modern typology has important lessons for us as the field of linguistics undergoes a paradigm shift. Typologists study a wide range of language types, but I will show that even when one does theoretical work on a single, well-studied standardized national language like English, one can (and should) benefit from an awareness of typological findings.