noun
Academic term used in linguistics, anthropology, and other fields for classifying types or patterns.
言語の類型論は、世界の言語を構造的に分類する。
Linguistic typology classifies the world's languages structurally.
類型 means 'type' or 'pattern'; 類型論 is the study or theory of such types.
Compound of 類型 (type, pattern) and 論 (theory, discourse). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term follows standard Sino-Japanese academic word formation.