Historical Linguistics provides a comprehensive and clearly written introduction to historical linguistic theory and methods. Since its first publication in 1962 the book has established itself as core reading for students of linguistics. This edition has been thoroughly revised to include the latest linguistic and archaelogical research. Recent decades have seen remarkable advances in the field of linguistic theory. The history and development of writing has been clarified. Typological advances have allowed a better understanding of the structure of early languages. Archaeologists and scientists dealing with prehistoric periods have supplemented knowledge of the speakers of early languages, broadening the view of their culture and society. After introductory chapters sketching the field and drawing these developments into historical linguistic theory, Historical Linguistics presents basic research methods with illustrations of their application, taken largely from the Indo-European language family. Supplementary exercises utilize data from other language families. The book will enable students to carry out independent work in historical studies on any language family, as well as up-to-date work in Indo-European.