Abstract
This article aims to be a contribution to the methodological foundations of linguistics. To answer the question of what are scientific data?, a semiotic conception of data is proposed according to which they are representations of properties of the object area of a science that serve certain purposes for their users. Kinds of data are distinguished by their ontological status, degree of abstractness, the type of sign representing them and their originality. The methodological status of data in the history of linguistic science is briefly reviewed, and their functions in scientific argument are specified. Various methods of data provision by generation of data or by use of available data are discussed. Since data are representations, they are per se a linguistic issue which, however, is even more complicated for linguistic data proper, because here diverse linguistic levels and diverse levels of abstractness have to be controlled. Apart from the principal necessity to have clarity on the methodological bases of a science, the issue of the nature and function of data in linguistics acquires increased urgency in a world where the documentation of endangered languages is, first and foremost, one of adequate data provision.
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