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Routledge Studies in Historical Linguistics

About the Book Series

Historical linguistics is one of the oldest disciplines of linguistics. It is the glue of much other foundational work on the nature of language and provides crucial insights into how humans have migrated and interacted with one another over the last five thousand years. It is both a highly theoretical and profoundly empirical field, rooted in the traditions of language documentation. Routledge Studies in Historical Linguistics reflects the diversity of work that studies language from a diachronic perspective. The scope of the series includes: 1) diachronic issues within specific subfields of linguistics, including (but not limited to) issues related to the theory of change in phonology, morphology, phonetics, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, language contact, and typology; 2) Within historical linguistics, work dealing with language classification, grammaticalisation, contact-induced change, reconstruction, as well as theoretical perspectives on language evolution; 3) comparative/historical grammars of specific languages and language families, including detailed comparative reconstruction in phonology, morphology, and syntax; 4) interdisciplinary studies which combine language change with insights from (but not limited to) archaeology, anthropology, history, or geography.

If you’re interested in submitting a proposal to the series, please contact Series Editor Claire Bowern ([email protected]).

4 Series Titles


Digitally-assisted Historical English Linguistics

Digitally-assisted Historical English Linguistics

1st Edition

Edited By Carolina P. Amador-Moreno, Dagmar Haumann, Arne Peters
May 05, 2025

This collection features different perspectives on how digital tools are changing our understanding of language varieties, language contact, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and dialectology through the lens of different historical contexts. With a clear focus on English, chapters in the volume ...

Binomials in Late Middle English to Early Modern English Style, Frequency and Etymology

Binomials in Late Middle English to Early Modern English: Style, Frequency and Etymology

1st Edition

By Akinobu Tani
March 17, 2025

This book charts the development of style and lexicon in the English language from Late Middle English to Early Modern English through the analysis of binomials across a wide range of texts and genres. The volume elucidates the forms, functions, and origins of binomials, otherwise understood as ...

The English Language Before England An Epigraphic Account

The English Language Before England: An Epigraphic Account

1st Edition

By Bernard Mees
August 26, 2024

This pioneering work explores epigraphic evidence for the development of English before the Anglo-Saxon period, bringing together linguistic, historical and archaeological perspectives on early inscriptions, making them more accessible to a wider audience. The volume offers a new account of the ...

Historical Linguistics and Endangered Languages Exploring Diversity in Language Change

Historical Linguistics and Endangered Languages: Exploring Diversity in Language Change

1st Edition

Edited By Patience Epps, Danny Law, Na'ama Pat-El
January 09, 2023

This collection showcases the contributions of the study of endangered and understudied languages to historical linguistic analysis, and the broader relevance of diachronic approaches toward developing better informed approaches to language documentation and description. The volume brings together...

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