The fourteen original essays in this collection have been specially written to highlight important developments in the history of Western linguistics from Classical times up until its publication in 1986. Any reader with an interest in the history of linguistic ideas will find much in this collection that is fresh and thought-provoking.

This collection, now available as a paperback edition, comprises original contributions from major schools of typological research, from the Prague School to the Generative Grammar tradition. The authors are leading scholars who present the theoretical foundations and practical achievements of their particular approach to language typology.

Discusses all aspects of language change as a dynamic process against a background of the differing approaches of the structuralist, neogrammarian and transformational generative schools.