historical linguistics
1
5.8
- noun
- /hɪˈstɔrɪkəl lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks/
- Specialized
:
lingüística histórica
- It uses historical linguistics to reconstruct settlement chronologies for the earliest inhabitants of the Rio Nunez region.
Examples
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In applying the methods of historical linguistics, the first step is to determine whether or not the languages in question are genetically related.
Academic text (2004) -
Researchers in historical linguistics trace the origins and transformations of modern languages.
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- Molly is a historical linguistics specialist.
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But unfortunately, due to the dearth of language data itself, part of this history may be lost to historical linguistics as well.
Academic text (2004) -
Historical linguistics compares genetically related languages.
Academic text (2004) -
Historical linguistics sheds light on an important question in the history of the Guinea Coast: the settlement of the Rio Nunez region.
Academic text (2004) -
In a region where archaeological and paleo-environmental studies are non-existent, historical linguistics provides the first chronology for the settlement of the region.
Academic text (2004) -
To historians using historical linguistics, words in genetically related languages are artifacts, fossils, for every facet of society for which its members have chosen a word as a name.
Academic text (2004) -
Diamond deploys data from historical linguistics to argue that Austronesian culture, and apparently also people, spread southward into the tropics from mainland China via Taiwan.
Academic text (1999) -
After tracing the evolution of sounds in a set of genetically related languages, the comparative method of historical linguistics reconstructs the common ancestral language once shared by those languages.
Academic text (2004)
Synonyms
The study of how languages change over time
The study of how languages change over time
How Time-Based
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
5.8
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the study of how languages change over time' is directly and compositionally derived from 'historical' (relating to development across time) + 'linguistics' (the study of language). This adjective–noun combination is a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Historical linguistics paints a simple picture: language experts compare old texts and modern speech to see how words and sounds change. The part historical points to the past and linguistics means the study of language, so it is 'the study of how languages change over time'.