Gourt > Science > Social Sciences > Linguistics > Historical Linguistics (1)
Historical linguistics (also diachronic linguistics) is the study of language change. It has four main concerns:
- to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages
- to describe the history of speech communities
- to reconstruct the pre-history of languages and determine their relatedness, grouping them into language families (comparative linguistics)
- to develop general theories about how and why language changes.
Modern historical linguistics dates from the late 18th century and grew out of the earlier discipline of philology, the study of ancient texts and documents, which goes back to antiquity.
At first historical linguistics was comparative linguistics and mainly concerned with establishing language families and the reconstruction of prehistoric languages, using the comparative method and internal reconstruction. The focus was on the well-known Indo-European languages, many of which had long written histories. But since then, significant comparative linguistic work has been done on the Uralic languages, Austronesian languages and various families of Native American languages, among many others. Comparative linguistics is now, however, only a part of a more broadly conceived discipline of historical linguistics. For the Indo-European languages comparative study is now a highly specialised field and most research is being carried out on the subsequent development of these languages, particularly the development of the modern standard varieties.
More on [ Historical linguistics ]
Etymology :: Dictionaries
Comparative Linguistics and Typology :: Linguistics
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Sociolinguistics :: Linguistics
Joy Division really should not make as good historical linguistics music as it does
parachuteshark (Alice Hall) Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:11:59 -0000
Joy Division really should not make as good historical linguistics music as it does
pliang@localhost deleteChannel: Q02VV0JN historical linguistics
braque_news (Braque) Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:13:03 -0000
pliang@localhost deleteChannel: Q02VV0JN historical linguistics
Historical linguistics is going to lead me to win an argument
ocb5687 (Brent O'Neill) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:26:24 -0000
Historical linguistics is going to lead me to win an argument
Studying the finer points about historical linguistics, first language acquisition and complex syntax. On a similar note, I hate finals.
thed3experience (Chris Jarmon) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:07:40 -0000
Studying the finer points about historical linguistics, first language acquisition and complex syntax. On a similar note, I hate finals.
Wrathful Dispersion: Historical Linguistics for the Religious http://bit.ly/5x0QxY Science.alltop
Alltop_science (Alltop) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:49:51 -0000
Wrathful Dispersion: Historical Linguistics for the Religious http://bit.ly/5x0QxY Science.alltop
Underprepared for linguistic anthropology final in ethno, social, and historical linguistics. Linguistic apology in order?
tarintowers (Tarin Towers) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:06:01 -0000
Underprepared for linguistic anthropology final in ethno, social, and historical linguistics. Linguistic apology in order?
Phrase Origins - Etymological site offers a brief history of the English language, discussion boards and a search feature.
Meta Description: [ A site devoted to the origins of words and slang phrases ]
A possible homeland of the Indo-European languages - Since most scholars assume an Indo-European homeland in the steppes north of the Black Sea, a full video study of this option is presented, based on the splits suggested by the Separation Base Method
Ancient Scripts - Historical Linguistics - Introduction to historical linguistics with language family charts and extensive links list.
Chronology: History of English - Chronology of Events in the History of English summarizing the emergence and evolution of the language spanning 5 millenia.
Corpora and Historical Linguistics - Historical linguistics can be seen as a species of corpus linguistics, since the texts of a historical period or a dead language form a closed corpus of data which can only be extended by the (re-)discovery of previously unknown manuscripts or books.
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Encyclopedia.com - Grimm's law - The principle of relationships in Indo-European languages, first formulated by Jakob Grimm in 1822.
Meta Description: [ Make research projects easier with our FREE online library of educational resources like Oxford Dictionaries, Encyclopedia Britannica and millions of articles. ]
English from the 7th to the 18th c. - An attempt at a very brief outline of the history of English by Tuba Ince.
Meta Description: [ Origins of English Language, origin of english, language origins ]
esources on the Net - Two software applications to aid glottochronological lexostatistical analysis.
Genetic Distance and Language Affinities - Between Autochthonous Human Populations.
Grimm's Law - A demonstration of the law.
Historical Linguistics Methodology - Academic papers available in Postscript, PDF, and Word97 formats.
History of the English Language - A considerable collection of online materials related to the history of English: texts, publications, fonts and course syllabuses. Includes Pre-History, Old English, Middle English, early Modern English and the spread of English beyond the British Isles.
Indo-European and the Comparative Method - Everything you ever wanted to know about Proto-Indo-European (and the comparative method), but were afraid to ask.
Introduction to Historical Linguistics - A brief summary of the subject of comparative linguistics.
Kjell Gustafson's homepage - Historical Linguistics - An overview of the field of historical linguistics and its sub-disciplines.
Meta Description: [ Home page for Kjell Gustafson, TMH, KTH ]
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Lehmann's Reader: A Reader in Nineteenth Century Historical Indo-European Linguistics - Anthology of important works of nineteenth-century historical Indo-European linguistics, edited and translated by W. P. Lehmann, 1967.
Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesianae - Philological Thracology. A Traco-Dacian Thesaurus, a few articles and links.
Place Names and Intersocietal Interaction - The relation of place names to inter-tribal relations.
Relations between Indoeuropean and Afroasiatic Languages - Traces of possible relations between Indoeuropean and Afroasiatic languages.
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Schousboe: Teaching Historical Linguistics - For educators- a course curriculum designed for a one-semester course.
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Sergei Starostin's Etymological Databases - Currently comprise North Caucasian, Sino-Tibetan, Yenisseian, Altaic, Chukchee-Kamchatkan, Dravidian, and (partly) Semitic (proto-) languages. With reconstructed protoforms (including intermediary) and the attested forms in daughter tongues for each etymon. Downloadable, searchable. Need special fonts, also available onsite.
Take Our Word for It - Weekly etymology magazine.
Meta Description: [ The Web's only weekly etymology webzine ]
The Controversy over the Word 'Squaw' - The definition of the word 'squaw' and its corruption by the American Indian Movement.
Meta Description: [ Phoenix's Squaw Peak and the controversy over the name. ]
The Great Vowel Shift Web Site - An interactive introduction to the Great Vowel Shift, a major sound change in the English language. Includes sound and animation.
Meta Description: [ Great Vowel Shift ]
The Indo-European Language Family - Extensive collection of resources in historical Indo-European linguistics.
Meta Description: [ Indo-European Documentation Center: Indo-European Languages. This page describes a family of languages in the Indo-European super-family. On a page referenced herein, links to maps show the homeland areas of each Indo-European language family. Links are provided to Indo-European language lessons ... ]
The Proto-Sumerian Language Invention Process - Eleven-page paper describing how the early Sumerians invented their language, with a complete lexicon of the first words in their language.
Meta Description: [ Paper analyzing the Sumerian proto-language. ]
Tracking Linguistic Drift: The Comparative Method - Lecture notes.
What Has a Hippo in Common With a Feather? - Historical linguistics and etymology.
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