De Gruyter Mouton Romanische Sprachgeschichte / Histoire linguistique de la Romania. 1. Teilband (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science [HSK], 23/1)

With regard to historical linguistics, the study of romance languages enjoys the privilege of a long documentation history, which, with Latin as its basis, dates back almost three thousand years. This long tradition makes it possible to analyze nearly every language-historical aspect, as well as to develop methods and test theories without having to rely on speculation. Drawing upon this rich history, "Romanische sprachgeschichte (Romance Language History)" describes the systematic nature of spoken and written language in the Romance language area on the one hand, and on the other hand determines the conditionality of such human behaviour due to regional, social and situational conformities - themselves subject to the changing of times - and to culture-historical and literary determinants. With regard to both of these aspects, "Romanische Sprachgeschichte" breaks away from the typical focus on the history of the individual national Romance languages and adds a diachronic dimension to the continuum of language varieties within the Romance language area. Thematic parallels and contrastive analysis of the various Romance languages and language areas make it possible to observe and analyze divergences as well as convergences in language development under different socio-historical conditions. The main languages of publication are German and French. However, a few articles in Spanish and Italian are also included.