Historical Linguistics
Herbert Schendl
Series Editor: H. G. Widdowson
This book provides an accessible introduction to anyone interested in the history of the English language. It outlines the major issues and terminology used in the field of Historical Linguistics, a required part of most university-level language and linguistics courses, and creates an opening into the field for the new reader.
- ISBN: 978-0-19-437238-1
- RRP: £ 17.00
- Pages: 144
- Binding: Paperback
- Dimensions: 198x129 mm
Where to order
Contact your local Oxford office or distributor for information or advice on any of our materials, or to find your local ELT bookseller.Part of... Oxford Introductions to Language Study
A series of brief, clear introductions to the main areas of language study.
Tab 1
SECTION 1
Survey1 Language change as a matter of fact
Attitudes to language change
Language state and process
The aims and scope of historical linguistics
2 Reconstructing the past: Data and evidence
The data of historical linguistics
The written evidence
Sources of evidence
Comparing and reconstructing languages
Correspondences between languages
Laws of change
Internal reconstruction
3 Vocabulary change
Coining new words
Changes of meaning
Why do word meanings change?
4 Grammatical change
Morphological change
Syntactic change
5 Sound change
How sounds are produced
Phonetic change
Phonemic change
6 Language contact
Borrowing from other languages
Convergence and linguistic areas
Language birth: pidgins and creoles
Language death
7 How and why do languages change?
Functional explanations
Psycholinguistic explanations: Language acquisition
Sociolinguistic explanations
The origin and spread of changes
8 Postscript: Further developments
Socio-historical linguistics and historical pragmatics
Evolutionary linguistics
Standardisation and language planning
Conclusion
SECTION 2
ReadingsSECTION 3
ReferencesSECTION 4
GlossaryTab 2
- '... accessible, and full of specific examples for added clarity.' - EL Gazette
