About This Book
A series of nine lectures introduces the science of language as a modern discipline, defining methods and stages: empirical study, classificatory approaches, genealogical classification, comparative grammar, analysis of constituent elements, morphological classification, and theoretical inquiries into the origin of language. It contrasts language growth with language history, outlines phonological and grammatical comparison techniques, presents principles for grouping languages, and discusses hypotheses about language origins, while emphasizing careful analysis of words, forms, and development. The lectures aim to orient scholars from diverse fields to linguistic methodology and to show how systematic comparison reveals historical relationships and structural features across languages.