11. The comparative method (the central concept)

Chapters in this book

1. Prelim pages i
2. Table of contents v
3. Introduction ix
4. Part I. Background: genetic linguistics in relation to general linguistics and related fields
5. 1. Language and linguistics 3
6. 2. Writing and language 31
7. 3. Linguistic variation 47
8. Part II. Historical linguistics: how does language change
9. 4. Sound change 57
10. 5. Grammar change: analogy 88
11. 6. Rule change 109
12. 7. Semantic change 133
13. 8. External change: borrowing 154
14. 9. Why does language change? 179
15. Part III. Comparative linguistics (general notions and structure): how can change be reversed?
16. 10. Preliminaries to the historical methods 207
17. 11. The comparative method (the central concept) 229
18. 12. Internal reconstruction 264
19. 13. Conclusion to the methods 274
20. Part IV. Linguistic reconstruction: A synthesis of various linguistic and cultural notions
21. 114. Dialect geography 289
22. 15. Alternative relationship models 300
23. 16. Classification of languages 310
24. 17. Philology and etymology 323
25. 18. Reconstructing Phonology 335
26. 19. Reconstructing grammar 351
27. 20. Reconstructing semology/semantics 364
28. Part V. Conclusion: linguistics as part of anthropology
29. 21. Change and reconstruction in culture and linguistics 377
30. 22. Genetic linguistics and biological genetics 389
31. 23. Genetic linguistics and metatheory 399
32. Bibliography 413
33. Index 449