Historical linguistic theory and practice consist of a large number of chronological layers
that have been accepted in the course of time and have acquired a permanence of their own.
These range from neogrammarian conceptualizations of sound change analogy and borrowing to
prosodic lexical morphological and syntactic change and to present-day views on rule change
and the effects of language contact. To get a full grasp of the principles of historical
linguistics it is therefore necessary to understand the nature of each of these layers. This
book is a major revision and reorganization of the earlier editions and adds entirely new
chapters on morphological change and lexical change as well as a detailed discussion of
linguistic palaeontology and ideological responses to the findings of historical linguistics to
this landmark publication.
