PART ONE：INTRODUCTORY 1
The History of Language Classification＆by R．H．Robins 3
PART TWO：METHODOLOGICAL 43
Introductory Remarks＆by Henry M．Hoenigswald 45
The Comparative Method＆by Henry M．Hoenigswald 51
Internal Reconstruction＆by Jerzy Kurlowicz 63
Mathematical Developments in Lexicostatistic Theory＆by David Sankoff 93
On Comparative Linguistics：The Case of Grassmann＇s Law＆by Paul Kiparsky 115
Areal Linguistics：Some General Considerations＆by Werner Winter 135
The Typological Method＆by Joseph H．Greenberg 149
The Social Setting of Linguistic Change＆by William Labov 195
Written Records and Decipherment＆by Ignace J．Gelb 253
PART THREE：CASE STUDIES 285
Introductory Remarks＆by Robert E．Longacre 287
Otomanguean Isoglosses＆by Calvin R．Rensch 295
Internal Reconstruction and Finno-Ugric (Finnish)＆by Raimo Anttila 317
The Romance Data of the Pilot Studies for Glottochronology＆by John A．Rea 355
Japanese Dialects＆by Shiro Hattori 369
Deep-Surface Canonical Disparities in Relation to Analysis and Change：An Australian Example＆by Kenneth Hale 401
Areal Linguistics and Middle America＆by Terrence Kaufman 459
Diachronic Typology of Philippine Vowel Systems＆by Lawrence Andrew Reid 485
Some Aspects of Decreolization in Creole French＆by Albert Valdman 507
Linear B＆by John Chadwick 537
Altaic Linguistic Reconstruction and Culture＆by John R．Krueger 569
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 583
INDEX OF NAMES 589
INDEX OF LANGUAGES AND WRITING SYSTEMS 597