Areal Distribution and Typological Diversity of Languages Spoken in Europe and North and Central Asia, Vol. II: The Typological Diversity of Languages Spoken in Europe and North and Central Asia

The primary goal of this work is the description of areal distribution and typological diversity of languages spoken in Europe and North and Central Asia. The languages spoken in the area are described with the help of a sample database consisting of a sample data from ninety seven languages spoken in Europe and North and Central Asia. The database which contains information on phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic levels is investigated with the help of statistical tools called Self-Organizing Maps and Sammon’s Maps. Typological distances of languages are presented with the help of distribution of combinations of linguistic categories of languages. In the statistical analysis, typological distances of languages are a consequence of information available in linguistic variables. It is shown that information on typological distances of languages vary with respect to nformation on different linguistic levels. It is also shown that, although the languages which are close relatives are often grouped together, these relationships are re-organized, when the languages are investigated with respect to specific typological properties, such as phonological systems or word order.