[Understanding Language Change] [Author: McMahon, April M. S.] [March, 1994]

by April M.S. McMahon

How and why do language changes begin; how and why do they spread; and how can they ultimately be explained? This new textbook sets out to answer these questions in a clear and helpful way which will be accessible to all students with only an elementary knowledge of linguistics.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published March 17, 1994

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complete guide on the historical change of language. It discusses all linguistic patterns: phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, linguistic variation and it concludes with pidgins and creoles and language death. These changes are from a wide range of languages with more focus in the Indo- European family. There is also evaluation of a number of theories and finally the causes of these changes: some happen from within (the linguistic system itself) and others are motivated by external factors and specifically by contact between languages.