historical linguistics historical linguistics language change roger lass university cape town historical linguistics language change isbn 0521 45924 9 paperback 6 x 9 c 471 pp pub date 0413 97 publisher cambridge university press 29 95 language change happens spatiotemporal world historical linguistics craft linguists exercise upon results order tell coherent stories series linked essays roger lass offers critical survey foundations art historical linguistics interaction subject matter language change taking background major philosophical issues arise fromthese considerations paradoxical conclusion historiographical methods often better data work contents preface general prologue 1 past present historian 2 written records evidence argument 3 relatedness ancestry comparison 4 convergence contact 5 nature reconstruction 6 time change shape history 7 explanation ontology references index order info http www cup org order html