historical linguistics


noun(used with a singular verb)
  1. the study of changes in a language or group of languages over a period of time.

Origin of historical linguistics

1
First recorded in 1920–25

Words Nearby historical linguistics

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How to use historical linguistics in a sentence

  • It may do for comparative-historical linguistics what the Rosetta Stone did for Egyptology.

    The Record of Currupira | Robert Abernathy

British Dictionary definitions for historical linguistics

historical linguistics

noun
  1. (functioning as singular) the study of language as it changes in the course of time, with a view either to discovering general principles of linguistic change or to establishing the correct genealogical classification of particular languages: Also called: diachronic linguistics Compare descriptive linguistics

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