Linguistic Reconstruction: An Introduction to Theory and MethodHow and why are languages constantly changing? Historical linguistics seeks to find out by going beyond the history of individual languages to discover the general principles which underlie language change. But our evidence is severely limited. Most of the world's languages are still unwritten, and even in areas with long written traditions, such as Europe and the Near East, documentary evidence stretches only a little way back along the path of the historical development of languages. How, then, can we uncover our long linguistic prehistory, and what can it tell us about language change? This new book, the first in the major new series, Oxford Textbooks in Linguistics, is an accessible general guide for students with an elementary knowledge of linguistics to the methods and theoretical bases of linguistic reconstruction. Fox provides a comprehensive survey both of orthodox techniques and of newer, less well established principles such as the application of linguistic universals and language typology, and quantitative techniques. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Background to the Comparative Method | 17 |
The Comparative Method in the Twentieth Century | 37 |
Basic Procedures | 57 |
Comparative Reconstruction of Morphology Syntax | 92 |
Issues in Comparative Reconstruction | 122 |
Internal Reconstruction | 145 |
Applications and Implications of Internal Reconstruction | 185 |
Reconstructing Language Relationships | 217 |
Language Typology and Linguistic Reconstruction | 247 |
Quantitative Methods in Reconstruction | 275 |
Reconstruction Culture and Society | 303 |
References | 330 |
| 359 | |
| 365 | |
Common terms and phrases
allomorphs allophones alternations applied assumed assumption basic basis classification cognate Comparative Linguistics Comparative Method comparative reconstruction consonants context correspondence sets criteria culture derived diachronic dialect discussion Dyen earlier English establish evidence example fact forms Germanic languages Glottochronology Gothic Grammar Greek Greenberg Grimm's Grimm's Law groupings Historical Linguistics Hoenigswald homeland i-umlaut identify Indo Indo-European languages innovation Internal Reconstruction interpretation involved language change language families languages compared laryngeals Latin Lehmann lexical items Lexicostatistics linguistic reconstruction means merger method of Internal methodological morphemes morphological morphophoneme Neo-Grammarians nevertheless nouns Old High German original palatal patterns phonemes phonological plosives possible pre-phonemes principle problem procedures Proto Proto-Indo-European proto-language proto-phonemes recon relationships Sanskrit Saussure Saussure's Schleicher Sect semantic similar sounds speakers split structuralist structure synchronic syntactic syntax theory tion tree typological velar verb Verner's Law vocabulary voiceless vowel words