Language, History, Ideology: The Use and Misuse of Historical-Comparative Linguistics

This volume presents twelve in-depth case studies that critically examine the ways in which historical linguistics and language change interact with ideology. These varying interactions have been present since the birth of historical-comparative linguistics as a field of study. Work in historical linguistics may be appropriated or rejected for ideological reasons, most notably in the debates surrounding the Indo-European homeland; it can also by influenced by ideological biases, as in the ’alternative’ histories that have been proposed for Moldovan and Maltese. The development of linguistically-defined nation states may itself fuel linguistic change, for instance through the suppression of minority languages or the division of existing languages to mirror political divisions, as occurred in the Balkans; or it may lead to the formulation of pseudo-histories designed to give a nation a more prestigious past. The book will be of interest not only to historical linguists but also to anthropologists, historians, and all those interested in language policy.

Camiel Hamans, Associate Secretary-General, Comité International Permanent des Linguistes, Hans Henrich Hock, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, University of Illinois

Camiel Hamans is Associate Secretary-General of the Comité International Permanent des Linguistes (CIPL), having previously held positions at the universities of Amsterdam, Leiden, and Poznan, where he taught Dutch modern and historical linguistics. He is a Fellow of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (Leiden) and of the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, the thinktank of the Dutch Labour Party.

Hans Henrich Hock is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of Illinois. His research interests are in Indo-European and general comparative-historical linguistics with a focus on Sanskrit/Indo-Aryan and language contact. He is a Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America and an Honorary Life Member of the Societas Linguistica Europaea.