historical linguistics

historical linguistics
the study of changes in a language or group of languages over a period of time. Also called diachronic linguistics.
[1920-25]

* * *

also called  Diachronic Linguistics,  

      the branch of linguistics concerned with the study of phonological, grammatical, and semantic changes, the reconstruction of earlier stages of languages, and the discovery and application of the methods by which genetic relationships among languages can be demonstrated. Historical linguistics had its roots in the etymological speculations of classical and medieval times, in the comparative study of Greek and Latin developed during the Renaissance, and in the speculations of scholars as to the language from which the other languages of the world were descended. It was only in the 19th century, however, that more scientific methods of language comparison and sufficient data on the early Indo-European languages combined to establish the principles now used by historical linguists. The theories of the Neogrammarians (Neogrammarian), a group of German historical linguists and classical scholars who first gained prominence in the 1870s, were especially important because of the rigorous manner in which they formulated sound correspondences in the Indo-European languages. In the 20th century, historical linguists have successfully extended the application of the theories and methods of the 19th century to the classification and historical study of non-Indo-European languages. Historical linguistics, when contrasted with synchronic linguistics, the study of a language at a particular point in time, is often called diachronic linguistics.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Historical linguistics — Linguistics …   Wikipedia

  • historical linguistics — n. the branch of linguistics that deals with language changes over a period of time …   English World dictionary

  • historical linguistics — noun the study of linguistic change the synchrony and diachrony of language • Syn: ↑diachronic linguistics, ↑diachrony • Derivationally related forms: ↑diachronic (for: ↑diachrony) …   Useful english dictionary

  • historical linguistics — noun The scientific study of language change. Syn: diachronic linguistics …   Wiktionary

  • Socio-historical linguistics — is a relatively new field of linguistic research which represents a merger of two distinct sub disciplines of linguistics; sociolinguistics and historical (or diachronic) linguistics. Researchers in this field use sociolinguistic methods to… …   Wikipedia

  • Linguistics — is the scientific study of language, encompassing a number of sub fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure (grammar) and the study of meaning (semantics). Grammar encompasses morphology (the formation and… …   Wikipedia

  • Historical pragmatics — is the study of language use (especially in spoken language) in its historical dimension. State of the Art Since the late 1970 s, historical linguists have discovered their growing interest in pragmatic questions first in German, then in Romance… …   Wikipedia

  • Historical Chinese phonology — deals with reconstructing the sounds of Chinese from the past. As Chinese is written with logographic characters, not alphabetic or syllabary, the methods employed in Historical Chinese phonology differ considerably from those employed in, for… …   Wikipedia

  • Historical language — Historical languages are languages that were spoken in a historical period. See: *Historical linguistics *List of languages by first written accounts *List of extinct languages *Classical language *Proto language See also *Ancient language …   Wikipedia

  • linguistics — /ling gwis tiks/, n. (used with a sing. v.) the science of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and historical linguistics. [1850 55; see LINGUISTIC, ICS] * * * Study of the nature and structure of… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”