Topological Classification of World Languages: a Comparative Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31150/ajshr.v6i3.3352Keywords:
Language Classification, Phonological Structure, Morphological Typology, Syntactic Variation, Word Order Universals, Agglutinative Languages, Fusional Languages, Isolating Languages, Polysynthetic Languages, Tonal Languages, Areal Linguistics, Linguistic Universals, Computational LinguisticsAbstract
The research examines linguistic classification worldwide by implementing both structural analysis with comparative linguistic methods. Linguistic topology reveals general patterns in addition to local structural differences through phonological and morphological and syntactic analysis of languages. The investigation based on morphological typology finds four primary language groups including agglutinative, fusional and isolating and polysynthetic and examines their syntactic formats such as SVO, SOV, VSO as well as their tonal vs non-tonal phonology. Accomplished through extensive data analysis of different language branches the research technique identifies both common and opposing topological patterns that exist in worldwide geographical regions. According to this research historical changes combine with linguistics ties and geographic distance to form current linguistic patterns. Topological classification creates impacts on the operations of cognitive science both for computational linguistics research and language acquisition. Research about language development advances through this study because it reveals distinct aspects together with cross-cultural patterns within language structures. The research should proceed by studying flexible topological structures in language combined with implementation of AI systems.
References
W. Croft, Typology and Universals, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
J. H. Greenberg, Universals of Language, MIT Press, 1963.
J. Blevins, Evolutionary Phonology: The Emergence of Sound Patterns, Cambridge University Press, 2004.
J. A. Hawkins, Word Order Universals, Academic Press, 1983.
J. Nichols, Linguistic Diversity in Space and Time, University of Chicago Press, 1992.
M. S. Dryer, "Order of Subject, Object, and Verb," in The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, M. Haspelmath and others, Eds., Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 2013.
B. Comrie, Language Universals and Linguistic Typology: Syntax and Morphology, 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
M. Haspelmath, "The European Linguistic Area: Standard Average European," in Language Typology and Language Universals: An International Handbook, Walter de Gruyter, 2001.
P. Trudgill, Sociolinguistic Typology: Social Determinants of Linguistic Complexity, Oxford University Press, 2011.
B. Škrlj and S. Pollak, "Language comparison via network topology," in Statistical Language and Speech Processing: 7th International Conference, SLSP 2019, Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 14–16, 2019, Proceedings, Springer International Publishing, 2019, pp. 112–123.
W. Hu, "On the Translation Topology of Confucian Words in CE dictionary: Structural Comparison and Feature Analysis," Theory & Practice in Language Studies (TPLS), vol. 12, no. 8, 2022.
A. Port, T. Karidi, and M. Marcolli, "Topological analysis of syntactic structures," Mathematics in Computer Science, vol. 16, no. 1, p. 2, 2022.
O. Abramov, "Network theory applied to linguistics: new advances in language classification and typology," PhD Thesis, Bielefeld University, 2012.
A. Port et al., "Persistent topology of syntax," Mathematics in Computer Science, vol. 12, pp. 33–50, 2018.
M. P. Van den Heuvel, E. T. Bullmore, and O. Sporns, "Comparative connectomics," Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 345–361, 2016.
