ABSTRACT

Historical Linguistics provides a comprehensive and clearly written introduction to historical linguistic theory and methods. Since its first publication in 1962 the book has established itself as core reading for students of linguistics. This edition has been thoroughly revised. Drawing on recent linguistic and archaeological research Professor Lehmann incorporates key developments in the field. These include exciting advances in the history and development of writing: and in typological classification which allows better understanding of the structure of early languages. Well-illustrated with Indo-European examples, and supplementary exercises which draw on data from other language families as well, the book will enable students to carry out independent work in historical studies on any language family, as well as up-to-date work in Indo-European.

chapter 1|22 pages

Introduction

chapter 3|19 pages

The use of written records

chapter 4|31 pages

Genealogical classification

chapter 5|18 pages

Typological classification

chapter 6|27 pages

Linguistic communities

chapter 7|21 pages

The comparative method

chapter 8|13 pages

The method of internal reconstruction

chapter 9|8 pages

Glottochronology

chapter 11|18 pages

Morphological change

chapter 12|17 pages

Syntactic change

chapter 13|25 pages

Semantic change and changes in the lexicon

chapter 14|15 pages

Interrelationships among changes

chapter 15|14 pages

Linguistic and cultural change

chapter 16|12 pages

Conclusion