Historical Perspectives on Linguistics/Kewal Krishan Sharma. Jaipur, Book Enclave, 2003, viii, 375 p., ISBN 81-87036-89-3.

Contents: Preface. 1. Greek and Latin linguistics. 2. Medieval linguistics. 3. The renaissance and after. 4. The eve of modern times. 5. Comparative and historical linguistics in the nineteenth century. 6. Linguistics in the twentieth century: first period. 7. Linguistics in the twentieth century: second period.

"The term ‘linguistics’ dates from the early nineteenth century, and there is no ancient term which corresponds to it. In late antiquity the grammarians, in particular, give descriptions of Greek and Latin which are the distant forerunners of a modern descriptive grammar. They divide words into classes which are close to those that we still recognize: noun, verb, pronoun, adverb, and so on. They identify familiar morphological categories such as case, number and tense. They give rules, occasionally systematic though more often sporadic, for what we now call infection and word formation. They distinguish what is correct form what is incorrect and in the works of two grammarians, Appollonius Dyscolus in the second century AD and Priscian at the beginning of the sixth, we find the earliest extant treatments of syntax.
"There is therefore a temptation to see the history of treatments of linguistics as equivalent to the history of grammar. On this view, it would begin in earnest in the centuries just before the Christian era, when ancient grammar emerged as an independent scholarly discipline.

"Some comprehension and appreciation of the history of linguistic science will enable him to study future movements and controversies with a greater sympathy, tolerance, and insight." (jacket)

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