On the Origin and Development of Historical Linguistics
Since the mid-19th century,three pairs of important concepts have emerged in western linguistic research:system and history,the static and the dynamic,descriptive grammar and historical grammar. Paul (1880) elaborated on the principles of historical grammar. Sweet (1891) believed that comparative grammar is actually a branch of historical grammar. Gabelentz (1891) divided the study of language history into the external (proof of language kinship) part and the internal (influence of language development process) one,taking the study of dialects as a micro work of historical linguistics and foreseeing the transition from historical linguistics to general linguistics. Meillet (1918,1924) believed that historical linguistics is not only based on comparative linguistics,but also includes descriptive linguistics,and is closely related to general linguistics and sociolinguistics. Since the second half of the 20th century,research productions on historical linguistics have been based on the principles of comparative linguistics and have elevated traditional historical linguistics to contemporary historical linguistics by absorbing new theories and methods.
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