The Mouton Interactive Introduction to Historical Linguistics of German provides an overview of the historical development of the German language from its beginnings to the present day. It presents and interprets core changes in phonology, morphology, syntax and lexis, and illustrates them using multi-media visualizations. In addition, the CD-ROM contains comprehensive material on textual transmission in the various historical periods of German and on contemporary approaches to explaining language change. The work is intended for students of German linguistics and of general and comparative linguistics who are interested in researching German grammar in particular and the phenomenon of language change in general. The CD-ROM is designed for independent study, but can also be used as ancillary material to a taught course.
For teachers it provides novel multi-media presentations of various historical processes in language, selected source materials and maps for Old, Middle and Early New High German, together with a presentation of phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical changes in German in line with state-of-the-art standards of linguistic description - particularly in the area of syntax, which for the first time is given a detailed treatment in this form in an introductory work. The CD-ROM is bilingual (German and English). It contains numerous animations and sound-clips, a comprehensive glossary, advice on further reading on individual topics, and test items to check for comprehension and successful learning.