ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapters we have seen that an understanding and explanation of linguistic change depends on an adequate framework. Such a framework for sound change was provided in phonological study during the nineteenth century. The well-known rules describing sound change – Grimm’s law, Verner’s law and many others – were proposed when linguists increased their insights into the sound system of language and worked out a universal treatment of phonology. As information on speech sounds and the principles underlying the sound systems of various languages increased, improved formulations of phonological rules were provided. Subsequently, the formulations for specific changes have been improved and are still being improved. These improvements are based on an increasingly adequate framework for dealing with changes in the phonological component of language, the groundwork for which was provided in the nineteenth century and used subsequently in interpreting sound change.
