Abstract This paper presents a cross-linguistic survey of 738 word-internal pauses in 44 languages from DoReCo, a multilingual corpus of spontaneous speech. Word-internal pauses are attested in a variety of constructions and may occur at any morphological juncture, but are particularly frequent in polysynthetic verb forms and around prefixes and proclitics. Around one fifth of all word-internal pauses in the sample occur within minimal morphological forms rather than at morphological junctures. Word-internal pauses are sometimes ambiguous with regard to the domains they delineate and do not necessarily align with phonological word boundaries. The ubiquity of word-internal pauses and the fact that they can disrupt minimal morphological forms suggest a high degree of flexibility in how natural speech is produced, and calls into question the status of pausability as a reliable criterion for wordhood.

Article Replication, robustness and the angst of false positives: a timely target article and its multifaceted comments was published on October 1, 2025 in the journal Linguistic Typology (volume 29, issue 3).

Article An experimentalist’s perspective on replicability in typology: commentary on “Replication and methodological robustness in quantitative typology” by Becker and Guzmán Naranjo was published on July 30, 2025 in the journal Linguistic Typology (volume 0, issue 0).

Article Different models, different assumptions, different findings: commentary on “Replication and methodological robustness in quantitative typology” by Becker and Guzmán Naranjo was published on July 28, 2025 in the journal Linguistic Typology (volume 0, issue 0).

Article What is ‘advanced statistical modelling’?: commentary on “Replication and methodological robustness in quantitative typology” by Becker and Guzmán Naranjo was published on July 25, 2025 in the journal Linguistic Typology (volume 0, issue 0).

Abstract Replication and replicability are fundamental tools to ensure that research results can be verified by an independent third party, reproducing the original study and ideally finding similar results. Yet, replication has not played a very important role in language typology so far, with most of the discussion around replication concerned with different types of language samples and sampling methods. This study addresses the issue of replication in typology in a different way. We use the original datasets of four previous typological studies (Berg 2020; Dryer 2018; Seržant 2021; Shcherbakova et al. 2023) to show how statistical modeling can be used to test methodological robustness in typology. We do so employing advanced statistical bias controls, namely phylogenetic regression for genetic effects and a Gaussian Process for contact effects. While we could replicate some of the original results, parts of our findings differed from the original ones, revealing important methodological insights. Our comparisons show that more advanced statistical techniques that can model the phylogenetic and contact relations between languages pick up more complex patterns in the data than traditional sampling methods, and they capture more of the real relations between languages and their effects on linguistic structure.

Abstract According to the principle of informativity, more useful information is more likely to be coded than less useful information. This principle underlies Greenberg’s Universals 37 and 45, which state that a larger number of (sex-based) gender contrasts are on average found in singular than in non-singular forms. As an increase in group size lowers the probability of same sex groups, gender-specific personal pronouns are less useful in the non-singular than in the singular. Curiously enough, the principle of informativity also makes the opposite prediction: in the first person, non-singular forms are predicted to show a gender contrast more frequently than singular forms do. Moreover, exclusive forms are predicted to develop gender distinctions more often than inclusive forms. In this paper, these predictions are put to a typological test. A total of 51 languages from 17 different families and 24 different genera has been found in which the first person singular personal pronoun is gender-neutral while one or more of its non-singular counterparts inflect for gender. It is argued that Universals 37 and 45, as well as their counterclaim, are empirically adequate. This apparent paradox dissolves in a three-way interaction of gender, number and person in pronominal paradigms. In keeping with the principle of informativity, there is a bias in favour of gender marking in the third person singular but also a bias in favour of gender marking in the first person non-singular.

Abstract This paper presents a typology that sheds light on the diversity and complexity of comparative constructions across languages. Specifically, this study focuses on topic-prominent comparatives, a newly discovered type of comparative construction commonly found in East Asian languages, providing a comprehensive analysis of their features and subtypes. Drawing from a wide range of East Asian languages, this study delineates three subtypes of topic-prominent comparatives: double-comparatum comparatives (‘Hair she is longer than me’), comparee-standard mismatched comparatives (‘Her hair is longer than me’), and standard-topic comparatives (‘My hair, her hair is longer’). Additionally, this study introduces a pair of new parameters: concrete measurement and abstract measurement of comparative degrees. Concrete measurement involves the use of precise numerical values or quantifiable units to make comparisons, such as three years in I am three years older than you. Conversely, abstract measurement involves the use of non-specific, relative terms to establish comparisons, such as much in I am much older than you. These parameters are positioned differently in some East Asian languages.

Abstract What? Where? and Why? are the principal questions to ask in relation to linguistic typological patterns, in phonology as elsewhere. However, assembling sufficient and reliable information on a large diverse sample of languages presents challenges. Some of these issues are discussed in this paper, based on the practices seen in various database projects, including WALS and LAPSyD and in the wider literature. The challenge of recognizing areal convergence can be aided by simple mapping techniques. The most scientifically challenging issue is explaining ‘why’ as this requires considering multiple physiological, psychological, social, and other effects. Recent efforts to correlate phonological features with climatic and environmental factors offer a further potentially interesting way forward.