Frontmatter -- EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION -- CONTENTS -- MASTER LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS -- PART ONE: INTRODUCTORY -- THE HISTORY OF LANGUAGE CLASSIFICATION -- PART TWO: METHODOLOGICAL -- INTRODUCTORY REMARKS -- THE COMPARATIVE METHOD -- INTERNAL RECONSTRUCTION -- MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN LEXICOSTATISTIC THEORY -- ON COMPARATIVE LINGUISTICS: THE CASE OF GRASSMANN'S LAW -- AREAL LINGUISTICS: SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS -- THE TYPOLOGICAL METHOD -- THE SOCIAL SETTING OF LINGUISTIC CHANGE -- WRITTEN RECORDS AND DECIPHERMENT -- PART THREE: CASE STUDIES -- INTRODUCTORY REMARKS -- OTOMANGUEAN ISOGLOSSES -- INTERNAL RECONSTRUCTION AND FINNOUGRIC (FINNISH) -- THE ROMANCE DATA OF THE PILOT STUDIES FOR GLOTTOCHRONOLOGY -- JAPANESE DIALECTS -- DEEP-SURFACE CANONICAL DISPARITIES IN RELATION TO ANALYSIS AND CHANGE: AN AUSTRALIAN EXAMPLE -- AREAL LINGUISTICS AND MIDDLE AMERICA -- DIACHRONIC TYPOLOGY OF PHILIPPINE VOWEL SYSTEMS -- SOME ASPECTS OF DECREOLIZATION IN CREOLE FRENCH -- LINEAR B -- ALTAIC LINGUISTIC RECONSTRUCTION AND CULTURE -- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES -- INDEX OF NAMES -- INDEX OF LANGUAGES AND WRITING SYSTEMS