Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship: An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics

Hans Henrich Hock; Brian D. Joseph

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2009

Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship

An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics

Hans Henrich Hock and Brian D. Joseph

Volume 218 in the series Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214307

Overview
Contents

About this book

Why does language change? Why can we speak to and understand our parents but have trouble reading Shakespeare? Why is Chaucer's English of the fourteenth century so different from Modern English of the late twentieth century that the two are essentially different languages? Why are Americans and English 'one people divided by a common language'? And how can the language of Chaucer and Modern English - or Modern British and American English - still be called the same language? The present book provides answers to questions like these in a straightforward way, aimed at the non-specialist, with ample illustrations from both familiar and more exotic languages.

Most chapters in this new edition have been reworked, with some difficult passages removed, other passages thoroughly rewritten, and several new sections added, e.g. on language and race and on Indian writing systems. Further, the chapter notes and bibliography have all been updated.

The content is engaging, focusing on topics and issues that spark student interest. Its goals are broadly pedagogical and the level and presentation are appropriate for interested beginners with little or no background in linguistics. The language coverage for examples goes well beyond what is usual for books of this kind, with a considerable amount of data from various languages of India.

Author / Editor information

Hans Henrich Hock, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Brian D. Joseph, Ohio State University, USA.

Reviews

"Hock and Joseph’s book is very well planned and, in my opinion, it carries out its didactic purpose to an above-average level." Matteo Tarsi in: https://linguistlist.org/issues/30/30-3136.html (10.03.2020)

Supplementary Materials

Contents

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Chapter 1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Chapter 2. The discovery of Indo-European Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
Chapter 3. Writing: Its history and its decipherment Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
Chapter 4. Sound change Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
Chapter 5. Analogy and change in word structure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
Chapter 6. Syntactic change Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Chapter 7. Semantic change Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Chapter 8. Lexical borrowing Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Chapter 9. Lexical change and etymology: The study of words Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
Chapter 10. Language, dialect, and standard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Chapter 11. Dialect geography and dialectology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	332
Chapter 12. Language spread, link languages, and bilingualism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349
Chapter 13. Convergence: Dialectology beyond languageboundaries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	370
Chapter 14. Pidgins, creoles, and related forms of language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	392
Chapter 15. Language death Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	419
Chapter 16. Comparative method: Establishing language relationship Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	427
Chapter 17. Proto-World?: The question of long-distance genetic relationships Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	455
Chapter 18. Historical linguistics, history, and prehistory: Linguistic paleontology and other applications of our methods Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	477
Chapter notes and suggested readings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	510
Backmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	533

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Edition: 2nd rev. ed.
Audience: Students of General Linguistics, Undergraduate Students of Historical Linguistics
Pages
- Front matter: 17
- Main content: 588
Keywords: Historical Linguistics

eBook

Published: August 17, 2009
ISBN: 9783110214307

Hardcover

Published: August 19, 2009
ISBN: 9783110218428

Paperback

Published: August 19, 2009
ISBN: 9783110214291