LINGUISTIC RECONSTRUCTION

'Linguistic reconstruction' is the practice of establishing the features of the unattested ancestor (proto-language) of one or more given languages. There are two kinds of reconstruction. Internal reconstruction uses irregularities in a single language to make inferences about an earlier stage of that language. 'Comparative reconstruction', usually referred to just as 'reconstruction', establishes features of the ancestor of two or more related languages by means of the comparative method.

Contents

Sources

Sources

★ Anthony Fox, ''Linguistic Reconstruction: An Introduction to Theory and Method'' (Oxford University Press, 1995) ISBN 0-19-870001-6.

★ Henry M. Hoenigswald, ''Language Change and Linguistic Reconstruction'' (University of Chicago Press, 1960) ISBN 0-226-34741-9.