The Handbook of Historical Sociolinguistics

• Features 35 newly-written essays from internationally acclaimed experts that reflect the growth and vitality of the burgeoning area of historical sociolinguistics
• Examines how sociolinguistic theoretical models, methods, findings, and expertise can be used to reconstruct a language's past in order to explain linguistic changes and developments
• Bridges the gap between the past and the present in linguistic studies
• Structured thematically into sections exploring: origins and theoretical assumptions; methods for the sociolinguistic study of the history of languages; linguistic and extra-linguistic variables; historical dialectology, language contact and diffusion; and attitudes to language

Juan Manuel Hernández-Campoy is Professor in Sociolinguistics at the University of Murcia, Spain, where he teaches undergraduate courses on English Sociolinguistics, Dialectology, and the History of English, as well as sociolinguistic research methods for postgraduate students. His books include Diccionario de Sociolingüística (with P. Trudgill, 2007), Metodología de la Investigación Sociolingüística (with M. Almeida, 2005), and Geolingüística (1999).

Juan Camilo Conde-Silvestre is Professor in English Historical Linguistics at the University of Murcia, Spain, where he teaches on the History of the English Language and Research Methods in Language Variation and Change. His books include Sociolinguistica Histórica (2007), Sociolinguistics and the History of English (with J.M. Hernández-Campoy, 2005) and Variation and Linguistic Change in English (with J.M. Hernández-Campoy, 1999).