A critical view on a classical approach: Empirical data collection in linguistics

This paper takes both a diachronic and a synchronic perspective on the empirical approach while exploring the emerging field of Albanology. While still applying methods elaborated during the 1960s, Albanian dialectology is considered widely researched. Other linguistic areas have focused on idiomatic written language, mainly that of print media (e.g., belletristic literature). Precisely because of this, in my view, spoken forms of Albanian have received only little attention. Empiricism in linguistics is as old as the field itself, but with that tradition comes an almost stubborn limitation to only a couple of methods applied. This needs to change, as empiricism is now present in all areas of science and has been revolutionized by digitalization.

本文从历时和共时双重视角，对阿尔巴尼亚学这一新兴领域展开实证研究。尽管阿尔巴尼亚方言学仍沿用20世纪60年代发展起来的研究方法，但其研究已相当广泛。其他语言学领域则聚焦于惯用书面语，尤以印刷媒体（如纯文学作品）中的语言为甚。正是由于这一点，在我看来，阿尔巴尼亚语的口语形式仅得到极少关注。语言学中的实证主义（Empiricism）与该学科本身一样历史悠久，但这一传统也带来了近乎固执的局限——仅使用少数几种研究方法。这种状况亟待改变，因为实证主义如今已渗透到科学的各个领域，并因数字化而发生了革命性变革。