Katičić Radoslav. A Contribution to the General Theory of Comparative Linguistics

Mouton, 1970. — 162 p. — (Janua linguarum: Series minor 83).It is the aim of this study to enter in a coherent form some reflec- tions on the methodological foundations of comparative linguistics as we have inherited them from our esteemed predecessors. There are therefore no new facts presented in the following pages but only some insights into the mutual relations of well-known concepts and the true nature of familiar procedures. A better understanding of what we already know rather than the acquisition of new knowledge is what I hope this book will give the reader.
A full discussion of the opinions of traditional and modern linguists has not been attempted since it would have considerably increased the bulk of the book and made its systematic exposition more difficult to follow. A bibliography of works on comparative linguistics is intended to compensate to a certain extent this deficiency. Quotations in the text refer only to such literature as is most directly connected with the topics under discussion. The reader who wants information on recent works in this field will have to resort to the bibliography. This work is meant to be a contribution to the current discussion of historical linguistics, not a survey of it.