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Rethinking Linguistics Diachronically

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

Joseph H. Greenberg
Joseph H. Greenberg*
Affiliation:
Stanford University
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Abstract

Recent times have seen a marked growth of interest in historical linguistics, as well as an increased role for diachronic factors within synchronic theory. This suggests that a fundamental re-assessment of the relationship between synchrony and diachrony in linguistic theory is in order, particularly with regard to its role in linguistic explanation. A number of ways are indicated in which diachronic factors enter at various levels as integral and at least equal partners in the over-all explanatory structure of linguistic science.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , June 1979 , pp. 275 - 290
Copyright
Copyright © 1979 by Linguistic Society of America

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