With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Ian Maddieson will develop and analyze a database of phonetic and phonological information on 1000 genetically diverse languages to establish a phonological typology of languages. Languages may be classified into types according to differences in the number and nature of the sounds they use and how these sounds are combined and employed in larger units such as syllables and words. Based on the large sample in the database, the frequency with which the different types occur as well as the inter-relationships of different characteristics will be studied. For example, whether languages that use a large number of different consonants also tend to use a large number of distinct vowels or a wide range of different syllable structures will be examined. These statistical studies will demonstrate the range of variation among spoken languages as well as showing which of the features and patterns of relationships can be considered typical of human language and which represent more marginal properties. In addition, the geographical distribution of these characteristics will be plotted on maps to show how languages indigenous to different regions vary. This will help to highlight cases where similarities between languages may be due to historical contacts between their speakers rather than to independent development. Particular features or patterns of relationships between features that are widely distributed around the world are more likely to reflect very general design properties of human language. Patterns that are locally limited in their distribution are more likely to reflect accidents of history.
The basic objective of this research is to contribute to understanding both the shared properties underlying human languages and the range of variation in the sound structure among spoken languages, all of which can express the full range of human needs. The database will be developed into a web-accessible tool that can be accessed by other scholars and the public. Making it available in this way will help to educate the public about the great (though diminishing) diversity of languages still spoken around the world, and help to create respect for this diversity. It will also permit scholars to search for other or differently defined patterns than those selected for examination by the original compiler.
