Anttila Raimo. An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics

Macmillan, 1972. — 450 p.In any course of historical and comparative linguistics there will be students of different language backgrounds, different levels of linguistic training, and different theoretical orientation. No textbook has fully overcome the difficulties raised by this heterogeneity, and probably none will; but this book attempts to mitigate the principal problems in the following ways.
Since it is impossible to treat the language or language family of special interest to every student, the focus of this book is on English in particular and Indo-European languages generally. This convention accords with the most commonly successful practice. To these languages are added Finnish and its closely related languages for an indispensable contrast. The remaining examples are drawn from other parts of the world but have been selected for their utility rather than to preserve any geographical balance.