精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上语言学概论期末复习2014.11. diachronic linguisticsLinguistics that studies language over a period of time, also known as historical linguistics, e.g.the study of the Chinese language since the end of the Qing dynasty up to the present.2. arbitrarinessLanguage is arbitrary for the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural resemblance to their meaning. The link between the linguistic signs and their meanings is a matter of convention, and conventions differ radically across langua
