Methods and argumentation in historical linguistics: A case study

Nagy C., Katalin (2014) Methods and argumentation in historical linguistics: A case study. In: The Evidential Basis of Linguistic Argumentation. Studies in Language Companion Series (SLCS), 153 (153). John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, pp. 71-102. ISBN 978-90-272-5918-9

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Abstract

The present chapter aims to discuss some properties of historical linguistics argumentation, through the analysis of examples taken from actual research practice. Relying on Kertész and Rákosi’s (2012) p-model of scientific theorizing, it compares three competing accounts of the historical development of the Catalan construction “anar ‘go’ + infinitive”, namely, those provided in Colon (1979a, b), in Detges (2004) and in Juge (2006). The simultaneous plausibility of some statements and their negations in the starting p-context formed by these three approaches leads to a p-inconsistency, which is eliminated by the extension of the starting p-context and, then, the coordination of the extended p-context. The analysis of historical research practice from a methodological point of view suggests that the development of the Catalan “anar ‘go’ + infinitive” construction finds the most satisfactory explanation under Juge’s (2006) proposal, which uses sources, research methods and argumentation techniques traditionally accepted in historical linguistics.

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