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'Genetic linguistics' may denote either the whole or certain parts of historical linguistics. However, the term does not refer to the various attempts at explaining linguistic change and history by drawing on insights from genetics, such as Croft (2000)^[1].

Contents

Broad use

Narrow uses

References

See also

Broad use

In its broadest application, genetic linguistics covers at the same time the study of language change, the histories of individual languages, as well as the fields of linguistic reconstruction and genetic classification (e.g. Anttila 1989^[2]).

Narrow uses

The term is often used more narrowly, to refer to either or both of the following sub-domains of historical linguistics.

★ The study of what is 'naturally' inherited in language history, as opposed to transfer or interference phenomena (also known as contact-induced language change), such as borrowing (emphasized in Thomason & Kaufman 1988^[3]).

★ The genetic classification (also termed genealogical classification) of languages into families (e.g. Greenberg 2005^[4]). This use often also covers the procedure of linguistic reconstruction, which is considered by most (though not all) linguists an indispensable step in establishing genetic relationship^[5][6].

References

1. Croft, W. (2000) ''Explaining Language Change: An Evolutionary Approach''. Harlow: Longman
2. Anttila, R. (1989) ''Historical and Comparative Linguistics''. 2nd edn. Amsterdam: John Benjamins
3. Thomason, S. G. & T. Kaufman (1988) ''Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics''. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press
4. Greenberg, J. H. (edited and introduced by W. Croft) (2005) ''Genetic Linguistics: Essays on Theory and Method''. Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. Trask, R.L. (1996) ''Historical Linguistics''. London: Arnold
6. McMahon, A. & R. McMahon (2005) ''Language Classification by Numbers''. Oxford: Oxford University Press

See also

★ Genetic (linguistics)

★ Genetic relationship

★ Historical linguistics