The relation of language variation to reconstructed languages and to the methodology of reconstruction has long been neglected. The articles in the present volume consider this relationship from a number of different angles, with a number of different focuses. Several of the papers discuss evidence from Germanic, either Proto-Germanic (Joseph, Schwink), or daughter languages such as Dutch (Goss & Howell), Afrikaans (Roberge), Newcastle English (Milroy), and a Wisconsin German dialect (Geiger & Salmons). Other papers look at Italian (Cravens), Spanish (Harris-Northall), and the non-Indo-European languages or families Aramaic (Miller), and Proto-Hmong-Mien (Ratliff), and the Southeast Asian languages Phan Rang Cham and Tsat (Thurgood). In doing so they bring together a number of interconnected issues which are of current concern in comparative and historical linguistics.

Table of contents

Variation and reconstruction Mary K. Niepokuj 1 Microvariability in time and space: Reconstructing the past from the present Thomas D. Cravens 16 Reconstructing variation at shallow time depths: The historical phonetics of 19th century German dialects in the U.S. Steven R. Geiger and Joseph C. Salmons 37 Social and structural factors in the development of Dutch urban dialects in the Early Modern period Emily L. Goss and Robert B. Howell 59 Reduction of variation in the standardization of Castilian Spanish around 1500 Ray Harris-Northall 91 On projecting variation back into a proto-language, with particular attention to Germanic evidence and some thoughts on “drift” Brian D. Joseph 103 Variation of direct speech complementizers in Achaemenid Aramaic documents from Fifth Century B.C.E. Egypt Cynthia L. Miller 119 Language change and the speaker: On the discourse of Historical Linguistics James Milroy 147 Prefix variation and reconstruction Martha Ratliff 165 On reconstructing a linguistic continuum in Cape Dutch (1710 1840) Paul T. Roberge 179 The reconstruction of variability in Proto-Germanic gender Frederick W. Schwink 203 Variation as a reflection of contact: Notes from Southeast Asia Graham Thurgood 215 Index 223