Part I she establishes the theoretical framework by providing a systematic survey of the three main models of language development and in Part 2 turns to sociolinguistics and shows how changes within a language over a period of time, and changes brought about by contact between languages are both indicators and agents of more general cultural developments.

Key to symbols used; Preface; Introduction; Part I. Models of Language Development: 1. The neogrammarian model; 2. The structuralist model of language evolution; 3. The transformational-generative model of language evolution; Part II. Language Contact: 4. The neogrammarian postulates and dialect geography; 5. The social motivation of language change; 6. Contact between languages; 7. Language and prehistory; Further reading; References; Additional bibliography; Index.