linguistic historiography

The study of the history of ideas in LINGUISTICS and LANGUAGE study. The subject traces the origins of thinking about language from Classical times, using Greek, Roman, Indian, Arabic and other sources, continuing with the various schools of thought in the Middle Ages and the emergence of ‘traditional’ accounts of pronunciation, spelling, GRAMMAR, LEXICOGRAPHY and USAGE, down to the antecedents of present-day scientific and popular views of language and languages. All languages are in principle included, though most work has been carried out on European languages, where historical records are most in evidence. The subject also includes debate on the methodological and philosophical foundations of historiography, including its relationship to the history and philosophy of science.