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<P class=MsoTitle style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: left" align=left>These
are some thoughts on the reproduceability and further testing of
language-typological claims.</P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Courier New">1.
LANGUAGE-TYPOLOGICAL CLAIMS<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New" size=3>A
language-typological claim will conform to the following schema:</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“In all (or in
most; or in a certain percentage of) </FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>languages of a given universe, there is
X.”</FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New" size=3>X
is a structural property; the “given universe” is either the set of all
languages (in the case of unrestricted universals) or the set of all languages
that have property Y (in the case of restricted universals).</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>Typological implications will have been arrived at on the basis of a
language survey. In most cases, the claim cannot have been arrived at by
inspecting all languages in the universe assumed but only a subset – a sample -
taken from that universe. </FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Courier New">2.
DEGREES OF REPRODUCEABILITY<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New" size=3>A
typological claim is reproduceable if it fulfills the following two
requirements: </FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>(a) CORRECTNESS OF DATA RELATIVE TO THE SOURCES GIVEN</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The
data utilized for every language in the sample are correct given the sources
used by the author and given the definitions of the grammatical terms in
question adopted by the author. </FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>(b) CORRECTNESS OF LANGUAGE SAMPLE RELATIVE TO THE SAMPLING </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>METHOD ADOPTED</FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The
sample chosen conforms to the criteria of the sampling method chosen by the
author.</FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>What this means is that a typological claim is open to reproduceability
tests only if</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(A) the
full list of languages of the sample used is </FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>given</FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(B)
references to the data sources for each language is </FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>given (for
printed sources, page numbers must be </FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>included!)</FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(C)
definitions of the grammatical concepts utilized are</FONT></FONT></P>
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face="Courier New"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>given</FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(D) the
sampling method adopted is identified.</FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>If the actual data are also included in the study, so much the better
since it makes the job of the reproducer easier; but as long as the data sources
are precisely identified, this does not seem necessary.</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Courier New">3.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTING THE LANGUAGES IN THE
SAMPLE<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is
particularly important to list the languages of the sample for implicational (as
opposed to unrestricted) universals. This is for the following
reason.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Suppose a
typologist has 100 languages in his database; he wants to test an implicational
universal of the form “If a language has Y, it also has X”; and Y, the
implicans, is present in only 5 of the 100 languages. Can he then say that he is
testing the universal on a sample of 100? The answer is no: the relevant test
sample consists only of 5 languages since the remaining 95 are irrelevant: they
do not provide test conditions for the implicational
statement.</FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>(Analogy: Suppose I have 100 cats, I want to test the claim that cats
that have black fur have black whiskers, and only 5 of my cats have black fur.
If so, my test sample consists of only 5 cats, not 100.)</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>The point is this. An implicational universal is a claim about a universe
of languages delimited by the implicans and thus, as all universals, it has to
be tested with respect to the universe that it is claimed to hold for.
</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>What this means is that <U>implicational universals with differing
implicantia require different language samples</U> each consisting <U>only</U>
of the languages that have the implicans. Furthermore, the issue of the sample
being or not being genetically and areally balanced needs to be examined with
respect to that specific test sample and not for the entire set of languages
that the researcher may have inspected or may have available in his
database.</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>This is a simple, common-sense point but I have the impression that it is
lost sight of at times.</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Courier New">4.
FURTHER TESTING<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3>Suppose a typological claim is REPRODUCEABLE in the sense described above
and by reproducing the survey, it has in fact been found to be correct. This
means that the author is “off the hook”: he did everything right that he set out
to do. But it does not yet mean that the typological claim is actually valid.
FURTHER TESTING would involve additional checks:</FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(a) Using
data for the languages from sources other than those cited by the
author.</FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(b) Using
different definitions of the grammatical terms involved.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(c)
Sticking with the author’s sampling method but using it to construct a different
language sample from the one used in the study. (Cf. Larry Hyman’s point in his
message of August 24.)</FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Courier New"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(d) Using
a different sampling method for constructing a new sample for testing the claim.
</FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
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size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Courier New"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Edith A. Moravcsik<BR>Professor of
Linguistics<BR>Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics<BR>University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee<BR>Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>E-mail (office): <A
href="mailto:edith@uwm.edu">edith@uwm.edu</A><BR>Telephone (office): (414)
229-6794<BR>Fax (office): (414) 229-2741<BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>