Subject: historical linguistics

historical linguistics and language change roger lass ( university of cape town ) ; historical linguistics and language change ; isbn : 0-521 - 45924 - 9 ; paperback , 6 x 9 , c . 471 pp . ; pub . date : 04-13 - 97 ; publisher : cambridge university press ; $ 29 . 95 ; language change happens in the spatio-temporal world . historical linguistics is the craft linguists exercise upon its results , in order to tell coherent stories about it . in a series of linked essays roger lass offers a critical survey of the foundations of the art of historical linguistics , and its interaction with its subject matter , language change , taking as his background some of the major philosophical issues that arise fromthese considerations . the paradoxical conclusion is that our historiographical methods are often better than the data they have to work with . ; contents : preface ; general prologue ; 1 . the past , the present and the historian ; 2 . written records : evidence and argument ; 3 . relatedness , ancestry and comparison ; 4 . convergence and contact ; 5 . the nature of reconstruction ; 6 . time and change : the shape ( s ) of history ; 7 . explanation and ontology ; references ; index . order info : http : / / www . cup . org / order . html
