This book addresses the question: why do sound changes happen when and where they do? Jeremy Smith discusses the origins of a series of sound changes in English. He relates his arguments to larger questions about the nature of explanation in history and historical linguistics, and examines the interplay between sound change and social change. Drawing on the latest research in the linguistics and history he shows how insights in one field illuminate the other. After the opening chapter describing the book's approach and a general theoretical framework for the study of sound-change, the...
This book addresses the question: why do sound changes happen when and where they do? Jeremy Smith discusses the origins of a series of sound changes ...
Through his analysis of selected major developments in the history of English, Jeremy Smith argues that the history of the language can only be understood from a dynamic perspective. He proposes that internal linguistic mechanisms for language change cannot be meaningfully explained in isolation or without reference to external linguistic factors. The reader is provided with a synthesis of recent developments in English historical linguistics. Other features of the text include: a look at the theory and methodology of linguistic historiography; a consideration of the major changes in writing...
Through his analysis of selected major developments in the history of English, Jeremy Smith argues that the history of the language can only be unders...
