This course studies the historical development of language through time and space, examining the internal mechanisms and external influences involved in language change. Change will be examined at all levels: orthographic, phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and lexical. The course will also to investigate a variety of topics related to the phenomenon of language change; language classification; comparative linguistics; the reconstruction of linguistic systems; the social context of language change. Through study of these issues, students will gain insights into historical language varieties and writing systems; relationships among the world's languages; and the origins of the sounds, words, and structures of the languages we speak today.

This course studies the historical development of language through time and space, examining the internal mechanisms and external influences involved in language change. Change will be examined at all levels: orthographic, phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and lexical. The course will also to investigate a variety of topics related to the phenomenon of language change; language classification; comparative linguistics; the reconstruction of linguistic systems; the social context of language change. Through study of these issues, students will gain insights into historical language varieties and writing systems; relationships among the world's languages; and the origins of the sounds, words, and structures of the languages we speak today.