A Brief History of Linguistics

Author: (English) Robbins (Robins R.H.)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-09-01
Features: This book consists of nine chapters. Chapter 1 serves as the introduction to the entire book, introducing the object, scope, and current state of research in the discipline of the history of linguistics. Chapters 2 to 9 are divided to narrate the development history of linguistics from ancient times to the present. This book is structured around the European tradition, focusing on the history of Western linguistics and emphasizing that this approach "does not in any way assert the superiority of Western linguistics." To get a general overview of the history of Western linguistics, this book is largely sufficient. However, to understand the history of Chinese linguistics, reading this book alone is far from enough. Western linguistics and Chinese linguistics are two distinct traditions, and their histories are also two different fields of study. The book provides an explanation for this as well.