Course for international guest/part time students

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Organization

BTK Institute of Hungarian Linguistics and Finno-Ugric Studies

Code

BMA-MAGD-NY-324

Title

Linguistic Typology

Usual semester

Spring

Published semester

2026/27/1

ECTS

3

Language

hu

Learning outcomes

The aim of the subject is to familiarise students with the basic research topics, fields and terminology of linguistic typology. a) knowledge – Familiarity with the history, current research questions, methodology of linguistic typology. – Knowledge of Hungarian language at a level necessary to the student’s area of expertise, ability to read the reference literature in English. b) skills – Analysis of the relevant typological features of the Hungarian language with a special focus on morphosyntax, understanding the context of linguistic typology within linguistic tradition and its embeddedness in history. – Recognising the diverse methodological approaches to solving the problems of the student’s field of study. – Writing and speaking about the basic questions of linguistic typology in a clear manner. c) attitudes – The student understands and accepts that the properties of the Hungarian language can only be understood from a larger, cross-linguistic perspective. – Capability and pursuit of self-development. – Willingness to improve professional language skills. d) autonomy and responsibility – The student takes responsibility for their own texts and is aware of the potential professional evaluations and ethical consequences resulting from their context in Linguistics. – Applies knowledge acquired in the field of linguistic typology in self-development and self-knowledge. – Represents the methodology used in the field of linguistic typology and accepts the different methodological features of other fields.

Course content

The notion of linguistic typology. Linguistic diversity, methods for linguistic comparison. Main research areas of linguistic typology (morphology and syntax). Types of typological universals. Word order typology, typology of case and transitivity. Animacy, referentiality, and topicality. Typological databases. Case studies on Hungarian and its cognate languages.

Assessment method

(oral or written) exam, five grade mark

Bibliography

1. Comrie, Bernard (1989). Language Universals and Linguistic Typology: Syntax and Morphology. Oxford: Blackwell. 2. Croft, William (2003). Typology and Universals [2nd ed.]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3. Havas Ferenc (2018). Válogatott tanulmányok. Megjelent a szerző 70 születésnapja alkalmából. Uralisztikai Tanulmányok 21. Budapest: ELTE Finnugor Tanszék. 4. Song, Jae Jung (ed.) 2010. The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 5. Velupillai, Viveka 2012. An introduction to linguistic typology. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Programmes of the course