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Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is twofold: first, to assess how typology has been dealing with phonology, from early days to the present; second, focusing on phonology, to ask about asymmetries between phonology and syntax-inflection in general and about typological concerns in phonology itself. Looked at from both angles, the phonology-typology relationship is seen to be special, and the impression is confirmed that, in comparison especially with syntax, phonological typology as well as typological phonology are behindhand in the quest for system in linguistic diversity. Explanations are suggested in terms of the substance of subject matters and of the attitudes to description and theory in different subcommunities in linguistics.
