Introduction in Linguistics Tongji University November Marjoleine Sloos

What to learn?  Language typology  Language universals  Syntactic typology  Phonological typology  Dialect typology

Contents  Language typology  Language Universals  Syntactic typology: Word order  Phonological typology: Segmental inventory  Dialect typology  Chinese dialects: dialect tree  Predictions  Segmental inventory  Syllable structure  Tonal inventory  Syntactic differences

The comparison of structural patterns between languages and language varieties. What Is Language Typology?

Word order  Which languages do you know?  What is the word-order in terms of SVO?

Word order EnglishAnnie drinks teaSVOSVO ChineseAnna he chaSVOSVO FrenchAnne bois téSVOSVO DutchAnne drinkt theeSVOSVO GermanAnne trinkt TeeSVOSVO JapaneseAnna ga cha o nomuSOVSOV

Word order EnglishAnnie drinks Chinese teaANAN ChineseAnna he zhong shi chaANAN FrenchAnne bois té ChinoiseNANA DutchAnne drinkt Chinese theeANAN GermanAnne trinkt chinesischen Tee ANAN JapaneseAnna ga chugoku cha o nomu ANAN

Language Universals  Joseph Greenberg ( ) supposed there are a number of universals in languages  Basic order SVO? AN?  Others are derived from that?  Or: language samples investigated are biased?  Large database:

Universal implications  If a language has X, it also has Y  E.g. If a language has X, it also has Y  "If a language has primarily an SOV order and the genitive follows the noun, then the adjective also follows the noun”  “If a language has gender specification, it must have number specification”

Phonological Typology  Segmental inventory  Consonants  Vowels  Tonal inventory  Number of tones  Tonal contours  Syllable construction  C1V C1VC2 C1GV C1GVC2  Possible restrictions on C1 or C2  Co-occurrence restrictions

Anhui dialectShaanxi dialectShanghai dialect Mandarin Shanghai dialectFujian Dialect Zhejiang dialect Henan dialect

Chinese dialects  Anhui  ShaanxiMandarin  Henan  ZhejiangWu  Shanghai  FujianMin

Consonant Chart IPA

Vowel chart IPA

Chinese dialects: Consonant inventory  Anhui  Shaanxi  Henan  Zhejiang  Shanghai  Fujian

Chinese dialects: Vowel inventory  Anhui  Shaanxi  Henan  Zhejiang  Shanghai  Fujian

Chinese dialects: Typology of tone  Anhui  Shaanxi  Henan  Zhejiang  Shanghai  Fujian

Chinese dialects: Syllable construction  Anhui  Shaanxi  Henan  Zhejiang  Shanghai  Fujian

Typological analysis  Segmental inventory  Mandarin  Wu  Min  Between

Typological analysis  Segmental inventory  Mandarin  Wu  Min  Between

Typological analysis  Tonal  Mandarin  Wu  Min  Between

Typological analysis  Syllable Structure  Mandarin  Wu  Min  Between

What did we learn?  How to analyse languages and dialects typologically  Main topics in typology  Syntax: Word order  Morphology: Reduplication  Phonology: Segmental inventory, tone, syllable structure

Assignment  As a group: finish the typology of the Chinese dialects  Compare the different dialect groups (Mandarin, Wu, Min) with each other; are the differences smaller/larger than within the Wu and Mandarin groups?  Is the difference between Mandarin and Min larger than between Mandarin and Wu/Min and Wu? In which respects (not)?  Is Wu in between Mandarin and Min? In which respects (not)?  Is there a relation between geographical distance and typological difference?

Assignment  As a group: finish the typology of the Chinese dialects  Write a paper in which  For each dialects you describe the sound inventory, tonal inventory, syllable structure  You describe the typological differences between the dialects and the dialect groups  You speculate about the relation between geographical distance and typological difference

Next week  Language acquisition