Historical Linguistics

Mark Hale is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Concordia University, Montreal. His research centers on the relationship between contemporary theoretical linguistics and traditional historical linguistic methodology.

“This book will be a boon to educators who teach courses that go beyond a basic introduction to historical linguistics and who seek to link issues in linguistic change to questions in theoretical phonology or syntax … This book is firmly on my list of the few crucial texts for historical linguists … students should be encouraged to read this volume critically to broaden their horizons and deepen their thoughts.” Times Higher Education Supplement“The appearance of this book is one of the most exciting events in historical linguistics in many decades: the book is a stunning achievement. No historical linguist can afford to ignore Hale’s attempt to provide a solid theoretical foundation for the field’s methodological successes, and to link synchronic theoretical linguistics to the study of language change. Hale’s perspective is original and stimulating, as is his lively writing style; some of his claims are sure to be controversial, but those who disagree with him will have to work hard to counter his arguments.” Sarah Thomason, University of Michigan

• Introduction viiiPart I: “Language” and “Language Change”: Preliminaries 11. What is “Language”? 32. Linguistic Artifacts: Philology 193. What is a “Descent” Relationship? 27Part II: Phonological Change 494. Galilean-Style Phonology 515. The Traditional Approach 686. In-Depth Consideration of Selected Issues 917. The Regularity of Sound Change 124Part III: Syntactic Change 1478. What is Syntactic Change? 1499. The Diachrony of Clitics: Phonology and Syntax 194Part IV: Reconstruction Methodology 22310. Reconstruction Methodology 225Part V: Concluding Remarks 25511. Synchronic and Diachronic Linguistics 257References 262Index 267