History of Linguistic Science - E-book - Multi-format

The science of language began, tentatively and approximately, when the minds of men first turned to problems like these: How is it that people do not speak everywhere the same language? How were words first created? What is the relation between a name and the thing it stands for? Why is such and such a person, or such and such a thing, called this and not that?... The whole subject of linguistic investigation may be conveniently summed up in the single inquiry, "Why do we speak as we do?" This book deals with the history of linguistic science.