Canonical Typology

Abstract

Canonical Typology is a methodological framework for conducting typological research in which descriptive categories and theoretical concepts are deconstructed into fine-grained parameters of typological variation. The method is distinguished from other contemporary approaches to typology by its appeal to the notion of the canon, a logically motivated archetype from which attested and unattested patterns are calibrated. This chapter deconstructs the framework by providing a stepwise introduction to the principles that can be used to identify canonical (and non-canonical) morphology, drawing specific attention to the insights the method has already provided for inflectional and derivational morphology. Having looked at how Canonical Typology has been employed to analyse what it means to be a ‘possible word’, the chapter turns to where it might be headed, and how it might develop as more morphological phenomena are investigated using the framework.