Get Free Shipping on orders over $0
Change in Language : Whitney, Breal, and Wegener - Brigitte Nerlich

Change in Language

Whitney, Breal, and Wegener

By: Brigitte Nerlich

eText | 1 September 2026 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

eText


$68.19

or 4 interest-free payments of $17.05 with

 or 

Instant online reading in your Booktopia eTextbook Library *

Why choose an eTextbook?

Instant Access *

Purchase and read your book immediately

Read Aloud

Listen and follow along as Bookshelf reads to you

Study Tools

Built-in study tools like highlights and more

* eTextbooks are not downloadable to your eReader or an app and can be accessed via web browsers only. You must be connected to the internet and have no technical issues with your device or browser that could prevent the eTextbook from operating.

First published in 1990, Change in Language provides a fresh view of the history of nineteenth-century language study by focusing on the writings of three linguists—Whitney, Breal and Wegener in three countries—the United States, France, and Germany. The standard histories of linguistics portray the period between the 1840s and the 1890s as comprising a steady increase in philological knowledge, the discovery of sound laws, and the astute study of minute philological curiosities. The three writers discussed here illustrate another trend in the evolution of the science of language. They are witnesses to an increasing interest in questions of 'general' linguistics, semantics, and the study of human communication—new points of view from which they study the origin of language, language change, and linguistic creativity.

The life and work of these three outstanding scholars, their relationships with their friends and enemies, and their efforts to free linguistics from the unreflecting use of biological metaphors, give a new insight into the evolution of language study in an interdisciplinary and international context.

on
Desktop
Tablet
Mobile

More in Historical & Comparative Linguistics

Dictionary of American Slang - Barbara Ann Kipfer

eBOOK

RRP $21.99

$17.59

20%
OFF
The Miracle of Language - Richard Lederer

eBOOK

Word Fugitives : In Pursuit of Wanted Words - Barbara Wallraff

eBOOK

RRP $23.99

$19.24

20%
OFF
Blooming English - Kate Burridge

eBOOK