The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics

摘要

For many, historical linguistics - the study of the history of languages, the evolution of their words and structures across time - is what linguistics is about. In reality, it is only one of the many subfields of linguistics, albeit one with a long history and a distinguished pedigree. The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics is a most welcome addition to the discipline, although - as the title indicates - it pertains to historical study of one particular language: English. English Historical Linguistics (EHL) has quite naturally developed its own specific methods and theories, as well as adapted existing ones, to investigate a vast array of topics in the development of what has, from very humble and geographically localized beginnings, truly become the world's lingua franca.