All languages change, just as other aspects of human society are constantly changing. This book is an introduction to the concepts and techniques of diachronic linguistics, the study of language change over time. It covers all themajor areas of historical linguistics, presenting concepts in a clear and concise way. Examples are given from a wide range of languages, with special emphasis on the languages of Australia and the Pacific. While the needs of undergraduate students of linguistics have been kept firmly in mind, the book will also be of interest to the general reader seeking to understand langauge and language change. For this fourth edition, a number of new sections have been written, including many new problems and several datasets. Existing materials have been supplemented with new sections on grammaticalization, tonogenesis, morphological change, and using statistical methods in language classification.
Terry Crowley Book order (chronological)
Terry Crowley was a linguist who specialized in Oceanic languages and Bislama, an English-lexified Creole recognized as a national language in Vanuatu. His work focused on the detailed linguistic analysis and documentation of these often overlooked languages. Crowley's research contributed to a deeper understanding of linguistic diversity in the Pacific and the preservation of these valuable cultural heritages. His legacy lives on through his extensive publications, which are crucial for the study of Creole and indigenous languages of Oceania.
