Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Part I. Background: genetic linguistics in relation to general linguistics and related fields; 3. 1. Language and linguistics; 4. 2. Writing and language; 5. 3. Linguistic variation; 6. Part II. Historical linguistics: how does language change; 7. 4. Sound change; 8. 5. Grammar change: analogy; 9. 6. Rule change; 10. 7. Semantic change; 11. 8. External change: borrowing; 12. 9. Why does language change?: Social and linguistic factors; 13. Part III. Comparative linguistics (general notions and structure): how can change be reversed?; 14. 10. Preliminaries to the historical methods; 15. 11. The comparative method (the central concept); 16. 12. Internal reconstruction; 17. 13. Conclusion to the methods; 18. Part IV. Linguistic reconstruction: A synthesis of various linguistic and cultural notions; 19. 114. Dialect geography; 20. 15. Alternative relationship models; 21. 16. Classification of languages; 22. 17. Philology and etymology; 23. 18. Reconstructing Phonology; 24. 19. Reconstructing grammar; 25. 20. Reconstructing semology/semantics; 26. Part V. Conclusion: linguistics as part of anthropology; 27. 21. Change and reconstruction in culture and linguistics; 28. 22. Genetic linguistics and biological genetics; 29. 23. Genetic linguistics and metatheory; 30. Bibliography; 31. Index