Section of Areal Linguistics

The history of Section of Areal Linguistics started in 1976 from the working group "Languages of the world".  Later, "Languages of the world" became a structural unit of the Department of Indo-European Languages.  Further on, in 2011 the group "Languages of the world" was transformed into the Section of Areal Linguistics and became part of the Department of Typology and Areal Linguistics.

Section of Areal Linguistics is a leading research center not only in the field of the study of linguistic areas and their mapping, but also in various related fields. Its members actively participate in organisation of conferences which are held in the Institute. The workers are also engaged in field research, documentation and preservation of languages and language policy issues. 

The Sector continues the preparation of a multi-volume encyclopedic series "Languages of the World".

To date, 23 volumes have been published in Russian, namely:

  • Ural'skie jazyki [Uralic languages]. Moscow: Nauka. 1993. 398 p.
  • T'jurkskie jazyki [Turkic languages].  Bishkek: Izdatel'skij dom Kyrgystan. 1997. Moscow: Indrik, 1997. 544 p.
  • Pal'eoaziatskie jazyki [Paleoasiatic languages].Moscow: Indrik, 1997. 231 p.
  • Mongol'skie jazyki. Tunguso-man'čžurskie jazyki. Japonskij jazyk. Korejskij jazyk [Mongolian languages. Manchu-Tungus languages. Japanese. Korean]. Moscow: Indrik, 1997. 408 p.
  • Iranskie jazyki. Jugozapadnye iranskie jazyki [Iranian languages. I. Southwestern Iranian languages].Moscow: Indrik. 1997. 207 p.
  • Dardskie i nurianskie jazyki [Dardic and Nuristan languages]. Moscow: Indrik. 1997. 142 p.
  • Iranskie jazyki. II. Jugozapadnye iranskie jazyki [Iranian languages. II. Southwestern Iranian languages].Moscow: Indrik. 1999. 304 p.
  • Iranskie jazyki. III.  Vostočnoiranskie jazyki [Iranian languages. III. Eastern Iranian languages].Moscow: Indrik. 1999. 344 p.
  • Kavkazkie jazyki [Caucasian languages]. Moscow: Academia.1999. 474 p.
  • Germanskie jazyki [Germanic languages]. Moscow: Academia.2000. 472 p.
  • Romaskie jazyki [Romance languages]. Moscow: Academia. 2001. 720 p.
  • Indoarijskie jazyki drevnego i srednego periodov [Indo-Aryan languages of the ancient and Middle Ages]. Moscow: Academia. 2004. 160 p. 
  • Slavjanskie jazyki [Slavic languages]. Moscow: Academia. 2006. 224 p.
  • Baltijskie jazyki [Baltic languages]. Moscow: Academia. 2006. 224 p. 
  • Semitskie jazyki. Akkadskij jazyk. Severnozapadnosemitskie jazyki [Semitic languages. Akkadian. Northwest Semitic languages]. Moscow: Academia. 2009. 840 p.  
  • Drevnie reliktovye jazyki Perednej Azii [Ancient languages of Western Asia]. Moscow: Academia. 2010. 240 p. 
  • Novye indoiranskie jazyki [New Indo-Aryan languages]. Moscow: Academia. 2011. 896 p. 
  • Semitskie jazyki. Èfiosemitskie jazyki [Semitic languages. Ethiosemitic languages]. Moscow: Academia. 2013. 624 p. 
  • Dravidijskie  jazyki [Dravidian languages]. Moscow: Academia. 2013. 584 p. 
  • Reliktovye indoevropejskie jazyki Perednej  i Central'noj Azii [Ancient Indo-European languages of Western and Central Asia]. Moscow: Academia. 2013. 512 p. 
  • Jazyki Mande [Mande languages]. St.Petersburg: Nestor-Isorija. 2017. 1152 p.
  • Slavjanskie jazyki [Slavic languages]. 2nd edition. St.Petersburg: Nestor-Isorija. 2017. 680 p.
  • Paleoevropejskie jazyki Evropy [Paleoeuropean Languages]. St.Petersburg: Nestor-Isorija. 2020. 396 p.