Linguistics in the 21st Century: Problems, Prospects, and Growth Points
Abstract
This paper considers four problems that are most likely to affect the future development of linguistics: 1) linguistic diversity; 2) the text/system interpretation of language; 3) the role of quantitative methods; 4) the role of diachronic analysis. The author concludes that systemic, static, synchronic, qualitative linguistics is replaced by linguistics of variability, which is asystemic and oriented towards quantitative approaches, diachrony, and maximum linguistic diversity.