This book examines the history of western linguistics over a 2,000-year timespan, from its origins in ancient Greece up to the crucial moments of change in the Renaissance that lay the foundations of modern linguistics. The book explores how ideas about language over the centuries have changed to reflect changing modes of thinking. Twelve chapters include the following: (1) "Getting Ready to Study the History of Linguistics"; (2) "Greek Philosophy and the Origins of Western Linguistics"; (3) "Towards a Discipline of Grammar: The Transition from Philosophy"; (4) "From Literacy to Grammar: Describing Language Structure in the Ancient World"; (5) "Christianity and Language"; (6) "The Early Middle Ages"; (7) "The Carolingian Renaissance"; (8) "Scholasticism: Linking Language and Reality"; (9) "Medieval Vernacular Grammars"; (10) "The Renaissance: Discovery of the Outer World"; (11) "A Brief Overview of Linguistics Since 1600"; and (12) "Becoming a Historian of Linguistics." Research resources in the history of linguistics are included. (SM)