Historical linguistics, also called diachronic
linguistics, is the scientific study of language
change over time. Principal concerns of historical
linguistics include:
to describe and account for observed changes
in particular languages
to reconstruct the pre-history of languages
and to determine their relatedness, grouping
them into language families (comparative linguistics)
to develop general theories about how and
why language changes
to describe the history of speech communities
to study the history of words, i.e. etymology
== 
History and development ==
Western modern historical linguistics dates
from the late 18th century. It grew out of
the earlier discipline of philology, the study
of ancient texts and documents dating back
to antiquity.
At first, historical linguistics served as
the cornerstone of comparative linguistics
primarily as a tool for linguistic reconstruction.
Scholars were concerned chiefly with establishing
language families and reconstructing prehistoric
proto-languages, using the comparative method
and internal reconstruction. The focus was
initially on the well-known Indo-European
languages, many of which had long written
histories; the scholars also studied the Uralic
languages, another European language family
for which less early written material exists.
Since then, there has been significant comparative
linguistic work expanding outside of European
languages as well, such as on the Austronesian
languages and various families of Native American
languages, among many others. Comparative
linguistics is now, however, only a part of
a more broadly conceived discipline of historical
linguistics. For the Indo-European languages,
comparative study is now a highly specialized
field. Most research is being carried out
on the subsequent development of these languages,
in particular, the development of the modern
standard varieties.
Some scholars have undertaken studies attempting
to establish super-families, linking, for
example, Indo-European, Uralic, and other
families into Nostratic. These attempts have
not been accepted widely. The information
necessary to establish relatedness becomes
less available as the time depth is increased.
The time-depth of linguistic methods is limited
due to chance word resemblances and variations
between language groups, but a limit of around
10,000 years is often assumed. The dating
of the various proto-languages is also difficult;
several methods are available for dating,
but only approximate results can be obtained.
== Diachronic and synchronic analysis ==
Initially, all modern linguistics was historical
in orientation. Even the study of modern dialects
involved looking at their origins. Ferdinand
de Saussure's distinction between synchronic
and diachronic linguistics is fundamental
to the present day organization of the discipline.
Primacy is accorded to synchronic linguistics,
and diachronic linguistics is defined as the
study of successive synchronic stages. Saussure's
clear demarcation, however, has had both defenders
and critics.
In linguistics, a synchronic analysis is one
that views linguistic phenomena only at a
given time, usually the present, though a
synchronic analysis of a historical language
form is also possible. This may be distinguished
from diachronic, which regards a phenomenon
in terms of developments through time. Diachronic
analysis is the main concern of historical
linguistics; however, most other branches
of linguistics are concerned with some form
of synchronic analysis. The study of language
change offers a valuable insight into the
state of linguistic representation, and because
all synchronic forms are the result of historically
evolving diachronic changes, the ability to
explain linguistic constructions necessitates
a focus on diachronic processes.In practice,
a purely synchronic linguistics is not possible
for any period before the invention of the
gramophone, as written records always lag
behind speech in reflecting linguistic developments.
Written records are difficult to date accurately
before the development of the modern title
page. Often dating must rely on contextual
historical evidence such as inscriptions,
or, modern technology such as carbon dating
can be used to ascertain dates of varying
accuracy. Also, the work of sociolinguists
on linguistic variation has shown synchronic
states are not uniform: the speech habits
of older and younger speakers differ in ways
that point to language change. Synchronic
variation is linguistic change in progress.
Synchronic and diachronic approaches can reach
quite different conclusions. For example,
a Germanic strong verb like English sing – sang
– sung is irregular when viewed synchronically:
the native speaker's brain processes these
as learned forms, whereas the derived forms
of regular verbs are processed quite differently,
by the application of productive rules (for
example, adding -ed to the basic form of a
verb as in walk – walked). This is an insight
of psycholinguistics, relevant also for language
didactics, both of which are synchronic disciplines.
However, a diachronic analysis will show that
the strong verb is the remnant of a fully
regular system of internal vowel changes,
in this case, namely, the Indo-European ablaut;
historical linguistics seldom uses the category
"irregular verb".
The principal tools of research in diachronic
linguistics are the comparative method and
the method of internal reconstruction. Less-standard
techniques, such as mass lexical comparison,
are used by some linguists to overcome the
limitations of the comparative method, but
most linguists regard them as unreliable.
The findings of historical linguistics are
often used as a basis for hypotheses about
the groupings and movements of peoples, particularly
in the prehistoric period. In practice, however,
it is often unclear how to integrate the linguistic
evidence with the archaeological or genetic
evidence. For example, there are numerous
theories concerning the homeland and early
movements of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, each
with its own interpretation of the archaeological
record.
== Sub-fields of study ==
=== Comparative linguistics ===
Comparative linguistics (originally comparative
philology) is a branch of historical linguistics
that is concerned with comparing languages
in order to establish their historical relatedness.
Languages may be related by convergence through
borrowing or by genetic descent, thus languages
can change and are also able to cross-relate.
Genetic relatedness implies a common origin
or proto-language. Comparative linguistics
has the goal of constructing language families,
reconstructing proto-languages, and specifying
the changes that have resulted in the documented
languages. To maintain a clear distinction
between attested language and reconstructed
forms, comparative linguists prefix an asterisk
to any form that is not found in surviving
texts.
=== Etymology ===
Etymology is the study of the history of words:
when they entered a language, from what source,
and how their form and meaning have changed
over time. A word may enter a language as
a loanword (as a word from one language adopted
by speakers of another language), through
derivational morphology by combining pre-existing
elements in the language, by a hybrid of these
two processes called phono-semantic matching,
or in several other minor ways.
In languages with a long and detailed history,
etymology makes use of philology, the study
of how words change from culture to culture
over time. Etymologists also apply the methods
of comparative linguistics to reconstruct
information about languages that are too old
for any direct information (such as writing)
to be known. By analyzing related languages
with a technique known as the comparative
method, linguists can make inferences, about
their shared parent language and its vocabulary.
In that way, word roots that can be traced
all the way back to the origin of, for instance,
the Indo-European language family have been
found. Although originating in the philological
tradition, much current etymological research
is done in language families for which little
or no early documentation is available, such
as Uralic and Austronesian.
=== Dialectology ===
Dialectology is the scientific study of linguistic
dialect, the varieties of a language that
are characteristic of particular groups, based
primarily on geographic distribution and their
associated features. This is in contrast to
variations based on social factors, which
are studied in sociolinguistics, or variations
based on time, which are studied in historical
linguistics. Dialectology treats such topics
as divergence of two local dialects from a
common ancestor and synchronic variation.
Dialectologists are concerned with grammatical
features that correspond to regional areas.
Thus, they are usually dealing with populations
living in specific locales for generations
without moving, but also with immigrant groups
bringing their languages to new settlements.
=== Phonology ===
Phonology is a sub-field of linguistics which
studies the sound system of a specific language
or set of languages. Whereas phonetics is
about the physical production and perception
of the sounds of speech, phonology describes
the way sounds function within a given language
or across languages.
An important part of phonology is studying
which sounds are distinctive units within
a language. For example, the "p" in "pin"
is aspirated, but the "p" in "spin" is not.
In English these two sounds are used in complementary
distribution and are not used to differentiate
words so they are considered allophones of
the same phoneme. In some other languages
like Thai and Quechua, the same difference
of aspiration or non-aspiration differentiates
words and so the two sounds (or phones) are
therefore considered phonemes.
In addition to the minimal meaningful sounds
(the phonemes), phonology studies how sounds
alternate, such as the /p/ in English, and
topics such as syllable structure, stress,
accent, and intonation.
The principles of phonological theory have
also been applied to the analysis of sign
languages, but the phonological units do not
consist of sounds. The principles of phonological
analysis can be applied independently of modality
because they are designed to serve as general
analytical tools, not language-specific ones.
=== Morphology ===
Morphology is the study of the formal means
of expression in a language; in the context
of historical linguistics, how the formal
means of expression change over time; for
instance, languages with complex inflectional
systems tend to be subject to a simplification
process.
This field studies the internal structure
of words as a formal means of expression.Words
as units in the lexicon are the subject matter
of lexicology. While words are generally accepted
as being (with clitics) the smallest units
of syntax, it is clear that, in most (if not
all) languages, words can be related to other
words by rules. The rules understood by the
speaker reflect specific patterns (or regularities)
in the way words are formed from smaller units
and how those smaller units interact in speech.
In this way, morphology is the branch of linguistics
that studies patterns of word-formation within
and across languages, and attempts to formulate
rules that model the knowledge of the speakers
of those languages, in the context of historical
linguistics, how the means of expression change
over time. See grammaticalisation.
=== Syntax ===
Syntax is the study of the principles and
rules for constructing sentences in natural
languages. The term syntax is used to refer
directly to the rules and principles that
govern the sentence structure of any individual
language, as in "the syntax of Modern Irish".
Modern researchers in syntax attempt to describe
languages in terms of such rules. Many professionals
in this discipline attempt to find general
rules that apply to all natural languages
in the context of historical linguistics,
how characteristics of sentence structure
in related languages changed over time. See
grammaticalisation.
== Rates of change and varieties of adaptation
==
Studies in historical linguistics often use
the terms "conservative" or "innovative" to
characterize the extent of change occurring
in a particular language or dialect as compared
with related varieties. In particular, a conservative
variety changes relatively less than an innovative
variety. These variations in plasticity are
often related to the socio-economic situation
of the language speakers. An example of an
innovative language would be the American
English language because of the vast number
of speakers and the open interaction these
speakers have with other language groups;
these changes can be seen in the terms developed
for business and marketing, among other fields
such as technology. The converse of the innovative
language is the conservative language, and
these are generally defined by their static
nature and imperviousness to outside influences.
Most of these languages are spoken in secluded
areas that lack any other primary language
speaking population, however this is not a
guarantee. These descriptive terms carry no
value judgment in linguistic studies, and
are not used to determine any form of worthiness
a language has compared to any other language.
A particularly conservative variety that preserves
features that have long since vanished elsewhere
is sometimes said to be "archaic". While there
are few examples of archaic language in modern
society, some have survived in set phrases
or in nursery rhymes.
== Evolutionary context ==
In terms of evolutionary theory, historical
linguistics (as opposed to research into the
origins of human language) studies Lamarckian
acquired characteristics of languages.
== See also ==
== Citations and notes ==
== References ==
Bernd Kortmann: English Linguistics: Essentials,
Anglistik-Amerikanistik, Cornlesen, pp. 37–49
Bynon, Theodora (1977). Historical Linguistics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Radford, Andrew (1999). Linguistics: An Introduction.
With co-authors Martin Atkinson, David Britain,
Harald Clahsen, Andrew Spencer. Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press.
== Further reading ==
Raimo Anttila, Historical and Comparative
Linguistics (2nd ed.) (John Benjamins, 1989)
ISBN 90-272-3557-0
Karl Brugmann, Berthold Delbrück, Grundriß
der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen
Sprachen (1886–1916).
Theodora Bynon, Historical Linguistics (Cambridge
University Press, 1977) ISBN 0-521-29188-7
Henry M. Hoenigswald, Language change and
linguistic reconstruction (Chicago: Univ.
of Chicago Press 1960).
Richard D. Janda and Brian D. Joseph (Eds),
The Handbook of Historical Linguistics (Blackwell,
2004) ISBN 1-4051-2747-3
Roger Lass, Historical linguistics and language
change. (Cambridge University Press, 1997)
ISBN 0-521-45924-9
Winfred P. Lehmann, Historical Linguistics:
An Introduction (Second Edition) (Holt, 1973)
ISBN 0-03-078370-4
April McMahon, Understanding Language Change
(Cambridge University Press, 1994) ISBN 0-521-44665-1
James Milroy, Linguistic Variation and Change
(Blackwell, 1992) ISBN 0-631-14367-X
A. C. Partridge, Tudor to Augustan English:
a Study in Syntax and Style, from Caxton to
Johnson, in series, The Language Library,
London: A. Deutsch, 1969; 242 p. SBN 233-96092-9
M.L. Samuels, Linguistic Evolution (Cambridge
University Press, 1972) ISBN 0-521-29188-7
R. L. Trask (ed.), Dictionary of Historical
and Comparative Linguistics (Fitzroy Dearborn,
2001) ISBN 1-57958-218-4
August Schleicher: Compendium der vergleichenden
Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen. (Kurzer
Abriss der indogermanischen Ursprache, des
Altindischen, Altiranischen, Altgriechischen,
Altitalischen, Altkeltischen, Altslawischen,
Litauischen und Altdeutschen.) (2 vols.) Weimar,
H. Boehlau (1861/62); reprinted by Minerva
GmbH, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, ISBN 3-8102-1071-4
Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003). Language Contact
and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew.
Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-1723-X.
