Language Change

Catalog description

Introduction to the theory and methods in the study of language change and historical linguistics. Topics covered will include: reasons for language change; types of change (phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic); the comparative method and linguistic reconstruction; generative approaches to language change; usage-based approaches to language change; the relationship between language variation and change; historical sociolinguistics; dialect and language contact; pidgins, creoles, and the emergence of new languages; language attrition and language shift.