Abstract
This chapter outlines the aims and techniques of historical linguistics, the study of how languages change and develop over time. It begins by describing the development of historical linguistics as a field of study, before examining key explanations for why languages change over time, touching on how changes come about and how and why they then spread. The heart of the chapter then considers the different types of change observed in languages, and how change manifests at the different ‘levels’ of language. The final section of this chapter then outlines the main techniques that historical linguists use to study language change.
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