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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Comparative Method Reviewed: Regularity and Irregularity in Language Change

The Comparative Method Reviewed: Regularity and Irregularity in Language Change

Durie, Mark
Ross, Malcolm

Hardcover

Linguistics

ISBN10: 0195066073
ISBN13: 9780195066074
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: May 16 1996
Pages: 336
Weight: 1.58
Height: 1.05 Width: 6.34 Depth: 9.36
Language: English
Historical reconstruction of languages relies on the comparative method, which itself depends on the notion of the regularity of change. The regularity of sound change is the famous Neogrammarian Hypothesis: sound change takes place according to laws that admit no exception. The comparative method, however, is not restricted to the consideration of sound change, and neither is the assumption of regularity. Syntactic, morphological, and semantic change are all amenable in varying degrees, to comparative reconstruction, and each type of change is constrained in ways that enable the researcher to distinguish between regular and more irregular changes.

This volume draws together studies by scholars engaged in historical reconstruction, all focussing on the subject of regularity and irregularity in the comparative method. A wide range of languages are represented, including Chinese, Germanic, and Austronesian.

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