Paolo Ramat, An introduction to linguistic typology Cross-linguistic comparison makes it necessary to confront languages from a typological point of view. Examples. What is the basis for a typological comparison? R. Jakobson in PICL 8 (Oslo 1958). The noemata as 'tertia comparationis'. Cross-linguistic variation is large but not unlimited: the example of the noema 'possession' and its parameters (e.g. alienable vs. inalienable). Morphosyntactic typology: isolating, agglutinating, fusional and polysynthetic languages. Syntheticity vs. analyticity and conflicting parameters. An example of phonetic/morphological conflict Language 'improvement' and the Universals of language. Vennemann's 'natural serialization' 'Dynamicization' of typology (Greenberg): Word Order shifts and their causes. Iconicity and cognitive strategies Main references: B. Comrie, Language Universals and Linguistic Typology.2nd ed. London, Blackwell 1989. W. Croft, Typology and Universals. Cambridge UP 1990. J.H. Greenberg, Language Typology: A Historical and Analytic Overview. The Hague, Mouton 1974. J. A. Hawkins, Explaining Language Universals.London, Blackwell 1988. B. Heine, Possession. Cognitive sources, forces, and grammaticalization. Cambridge UP 1997 P. Ramat, Linguistic typology, Berlin & New York, Mouton de Gruyter 1987). A. Schwegler, Analyticity and Synteticity. A Diachronic Perspective... Berlin N.York, Mouton de Gruyter 1990. M. Shibatani / Th.Bynon (eds.), Approaches to Language Typology. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995. [contributions by Ramat, Sgall, Croft, Greenberg, Lazard, Nedjialkov/Litvinov, Seiler, Fukui] Th. Vennemann, Typology, Universals and change of language. In: J.Fisiak (ed.),Histor.Synt. Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter 1984. Th. Vennemann, Preference Laws for Syllable Structure and the Explanation of Sound Change. Mouton de Gruyter 1988. L.J. Whaley, Introduction to Typology: The Unity and Diversity of Language. Thousands Oaks, Sage 1997.