The course will address: (1) Processes of language change (phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic), and issues in interpreting change; (2) Major sound laws, such as Grimm's law, Grassman's law, and the great English vowel shift; (3) methods of historical reconstruction, primarily the Comparative Method and Internal Reconstruction, (4) the nature and principles of phylogenetic classification and subgrouping, and (5) Effects of language content on language change. Out of class work will include problem solving and brief written assignments.