37.3018, Reviews: The Secret History of Language: Lyle Campbell (2026)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3018. Mon Sep 21 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.3018, Reviews: The Secret History of Language: Lyle Campbell (2026)

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Date: 21-Sep-2026
From: Philemon Victor Gomwalk [philgomwalk at gmail.com]
Subject: Lyle Campbell (2026)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/37-2146

Title: The Secret History of Language
Subtitle: Language Change Unraveled
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
           http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics
Book URL:
https://www.cambridge.org/ch/universitypress/subjects/languages-linguistics/historical-linguistics/secret-history-language-language-change-unraveled?format=PB&isbn=9781009757997

Author(s): Lyle Campbell

Reviewer: Philemon Victor Gomwalk

Language change is just as relevant today as it ever was; yet the
secrets of how and why it occurs remain tantalizingly out of reach to
anyone without a background in linguistics. The volume under review
explores, among others, a wide range of such fascinating contemporary
questions as: What are the causes of language change? Where do words
come from? Is modern technology and social media corrupting our
language?
The volume “The Secret History of Language” by Lyle Campbell is his
newest publication and appears to be written specifically for average
‘non-academic’ readers. Campbell is a well-known research scholar in
the theory and practice of historical linguistics who must have
decided to write a companion publication to his hugely popular text,
“Historical Linguistics: An Introduction," 4th ed. (2020), aimed at
providing the general reading public with coherent and
‘easy-to-digest’ perspectives on the underlying dynamics of worldwide
language change. Across 11 chapters, Campbell’s volume focuses on key
processes and phenomena in the historical study of language that
academic circles emphasize but that public readers often do not
understand.
In undertaking this publication task, I believe the author must have
been primarily motivated to redirect popular attention to the
continuing societal relevance of issues of general language history
while also refocusing scholarly attention on important theoretical and
methodological principles and processes underlying different types of
linguistic change on both diachronic and contemporary scales.
It is in this respect that each chapter in Campbell’s book strives to
provide appropriately illustrated and often succinct explanations of
different facets of both the synchrony and diachrony of language. In
some respects, the range of topics, mode of organization, and style of
content delivery in Campbell’s new book may be viewed as a close
reflection and, arguably, a condensed version of similar content
material that had already been highlighted and comprehensively
explored in Campbell (2020) and other related studies previously
published by the same author.
SUMMARY
Chapter 1, ‘‘Language History: Past Offenses or Glorious
Achievements?’’ (pp. 1-12), highlights and briefly discusses some key
facts concerning the history, myths, and misconceptions about language
change and linguistic evolution.
Chapter 2, "What's in a Word?" (pp. 13-35), explores the dynamic
nature of the English language, detailing how words are created,
borrowed, altered, and sometimes lost. It highlights the importance of
etymology in understanding language history and provides insight into
the origins of both common words and personal names.
Chapter 3, ‘‘You Get My Drift? Meaning Change (pp. 36-48), outlines
the main types and mechanisms of semantic change, provides numerous
historical and modern examples, and emphasizes the influence of
social, cultural, and technological factors on how word meanings shift
over time.
Chapter 4, "Language Mooching: Loanwords and Borrowing" (pp. 49-73),
discusses the origins, processes, and history of loanwords and
borrowing in the English language.
Chapter 5, ‘‘Sound Change: Costs and Benefits" (pp. 74-92), discusses
the history, principles, and effects of sound change in the English
language and its Germanic roots.
Chapter 6, ‘‘How Do Languages Clean Up Their Act? The Might of Analogy
(pp. 93-102), explores how languages change analogy, illustrating
various types and mechanisms that shape linguistic evolution.
Chapter 7, ''Can Languages Change Their Grammatical Spots? Can Old
Grammars Learn New Grammatical Tricks? (pp. 103-114), discusses
mechanisms of grammatical change in English, focusing on reanalysis,
extension, and borrowing.
Chapter 8, "All in the Family: Language Classification’’ (pp.
115-137), explains the concepts and terminology related to the
classification, relationships, and origins of the world's languages
and language families.
Chapter 9, "Writing and the Magic of Writing Systems" (pp. 138-154),
provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of how writing systems
originated and evolved, highlighting their practical, cultural, and
mystical dimensions.
Chapter 10, "Thereby Hangs a Tale: Linguistic Prehistory" (pp.
155-169), discusses linguistic prehistory and how loanwords reveal
historical cultural interactions, migrations, and language origins.
Chapter 11, ''Is Linguistic Armageddon Nigh? What’s Ahead for the
World’s Languages?’’ (pp. 170-181), discusses the global crisis of
language endangerment and extinction, its causes, impacts, and efforts
for revitalization.
EVALUATION
Although Campbell’s book can easily be pigeonholed as a typical
textbook of historical linguistics based on its table of contents in
the subject area, I am convinced that it needs to be seen and
evaluated as more than a conventional textbook. While one can choose
to focus on the predictable range of topics covered in the book, I am
persuaded that Campbell’s book is unique because the author is able to
explain complex topics, concepts, and ideas in simple and innovative
ways. This uniqueness is demonstrated in three evident ways.
Firstly, all chapters deal with familiar core issues, topics, and
ideas in historical linguistic research. Yet, they carry
unconventional title headings and/or subheadings, possibly designed to
provide additional layers to the conventional definitions and
interpretations of key concepts and underlying principles/processes
connected to historical linguistic studies. Secondly, each chapter is
written in a simplified style to disambiguate some of the often
complex and difficult-to-follow technical terminologies that
characterize many of the current textbooks that dominate historical
linguistic research and discourse. Thirdly, the contents of all the
chapters are well-ordered and coherently delivered, interspersed with
suitable diachronic ‘feature-citations’ and relevant
contemporary-historical examples/illustrations. The above layered
evaluation is amply justified with reference to most chapters and
sections in Campbell’s book.
As a reviewer of historical linguistic texts, I must acknowledge and
note that Campbell’s volume is not only able to highlight many
significant facts of the historical evolution of human languages in
general, but it also succeeds in highlighting and exploring how major
structural components and features of individual languages are
influenced by both temporal and spatial factors to bring about various
subsequent processes of linguistic change. In this respect, the volume
highlights and adequately covers such core topics and subject areas in
historical linguistic research as common myths and theories of early
human language evolution (covered in Chapter 1); the nature and
structural covers patterning of words (lexicon) in different languages
(covered in Chapter 2); and the nature, organizational patterns of
semantic systems, and directions of semantic change in languages
(covered in Chapter 3).
The volume further highlights and explores other related areas such as
the nature and occurrence of loanwords, lexical adaptations, and
borrowed terminologies across language boundaries (covered in Chapter
4); the nature, scope, and patterns of sound changes within and across
language boundaries (covered in Chapter 5); the nature, scope, and
occurrence of semantic and structural analogy phenomena across
language boundaries (covered in Chapter 6); the nature, scope, and
patterns of grammaticalization phenomena (covered in Chapter 7); the
nature and underlying principles of language classification across
language-family boundaries (covered in Chapter 8); the historical
evolution of writing and alphabetic systems, their historical spread
patterns, and possible contemporary relevance (covered in Chapter 9);
the nature and contemporary perspectives surrounding the topic of
linguistic prehistory (covered in Chapter 10); the nature of
contemporary and future debates on language shift, maintenance, and
endangerment phenomena within and across language boundaries (covered
in Chapter 11).
In the paragraphs that follow, I am impressed and wish to draw
particular attention to what I sincerely consider to be Campbell’s
overall ease of content delivery in different chapters in the book. I
offer a few specific examples and pointers from at least two specific
chapters to partially justify my judgment of his ‘easy-to-follow’
style of academic discourse in the book. In Chapter 1, for example,
the author is able to raise, organize, and concisely present some of
the most pressing controversies surrounding the evolutionary history
of human language in general. Under the simple subheading 'The Myths
about Languages and How They Change' (pp. 2-7), the author presents
and critically appraises four common misconceptions (or common myths)
often offered as ‘imaginable accounts’ to explain the first
proto-historical emergence of most human speech forms. Those mentioned
are the ‘Primitive Languages’ myth, the ‘Rapid Change’ myth, the
‘Great Eskimo’ hoax, and the 'Correct Language' myth, among several
others that also exist in extant historical linguistic research
literature. True to type, in his discussion of these common myths,
Campbell succeeds in offering his views on the myths from a simple and
critical perspective. In offering his critical opinions on the
plausibility or otherwise of each myth, he remains focused and
scholarly, providing reliable diachronic and contemporary reference
sources for all critical points and arguments he deployed in his
discourse. A similar factual and coherent style of content delivery
also occurs in succeeding sections of Chapter 1.
Similar levels of simplicity and coherence of general content
presentation are also observable in other chapters, sections, and
subsections in other parts of Campbell’s book. The same assertion
about the author’s style of presentation noted for Chapter 1 above
also equally applies to Chapter 6, written under the ‘intriguing’
chapter heading, ‘‘How Do Languages Clean Up Their Act? The Might of
Analogy''. In this chapter, under the broad subheading "Kinds of
Analogical Change’’ (pp. 9-102), the author identifies and critically
evaluates the nature and defining characteristics of different
patterns of analogical change phenomena in different languages,
especially contemporary languages with available and reliable
fieldwork data and documentation. He treats the unique features and
concrete examples of the following specific sub-types of analogy
phenomena: Spelling Analogies (pp. 93-94); Proportional Analogy (p.
94); Analogical Levelling (pp. 94-95); Analogical Extension (pp.
95-96); Immediate Model in Analogy (pp. 96-97); Hypercorrection (pp.
97-98); Folk Etymology: Linguistic Urban Legends (p. 99); Back
Formation (pp. 99-100); Reanalysis (pp. 100-101); and Analogy and
Sound Change (pp. 101-102). The discussion undertaken in these
sections, as well as in other chapters, sections, and subsections of
the book under review, is permeated with both the theoretical rigor
and distinguishing simplicity of content presentation that have
regularly characterized many of Campbell’s previous scholarly
publications, especially his influential and widely used instructional
textbook, "Historical Linguistics: An Introduction'', 4th ed. (2020).
(See a sample of Campbell’s sizable volume of related publications on
historical linguistics in the reference section below).
In many chapters in Campbell’s book, I note with much personal
satisfaction and critical approval that his handling of different
topics and areas of focus remains theoretically clear and coherent.
Many of the critical linguistic terminologies he deploys are recast,
reinterpreted, and articulated through simplified ‘metaphorical’
chapter headings, subheadings, and innovative illustrations and apt
examples related to both diachronic and contemporary language
experiences around the world. My critical reading instinct is, for
example, particularly stimulated and captivated by Campbell’s choice
and deployment of the following specific chapter headings and
subheadings in his volume: ‘‘Language History: Past Offenses or
Glorious Achievements?’’ (Chapter 1, p.1); "What's in a Word?"
(Chapter 2, p.13); "You Get My Drift? Meaning Change" (Chapter 3,
p.36); ‘‘Language Mooching: Loanwords and Borrowing’’ (Chapter 4,
p.49); ‘‘Sound Change: Costs and Benefits’’ (Chapter 5, p.74); ‘‘How
Do Languages Clean Up Their Act? The Might of Analogy’’ (Chapter 6,
p.93); ‘‘Can Languages Change Their Grammatical Spots? Can Old
Grammars Learn New Grammatical Tricks?’’ (Chapter 7, p.103); ‘‘All in
the Family: Language Classification’’ (Chapter 8, p. 115); ‘‘Writing
and the Magic of Writing Systems'' (Chapter 9, p.138); ‘‘Thereby Hangs
a Tale: Linguistic Prehistory’’ (Chapter 10, p. 155); ‘‘Is Linguistic
Armageddon Nigh? What’s Ahead for the World’s Languages?’’ (Chapter
11, p. 170). As a critical reader, reviewer, and research enthusiast,
I am glad to come across Campbell’s new volume which attempts to
reinterpret and adopt innovative means of articulating orthodox ideas,
concepts, and terminologies. This is particularly applicable in
historical and comparative linguistics, which is a slow-evolving, yet
socially relevant, research field.
In the volume "The Secret History of Language", Lyle Campbell is able
to demonstrate considerable knowledge and deep understanding of
various dimensions of historical linguistic research on a global
scale. All eleven chapters in Campbell’s book are thoughtfully
organised and well-written, citing well-attested fieldwork data and
historical and contemporary language illustrations and examples (where
necessary) to aid potential readers in gaining a better understanding
of many key concepts and issues related to historical linguistic
research on a global scale. I also note with satisfaction that
coherence of discourse in key sections of the book is facilitated
through apt cross-referencing to relevant documentary studies in the
same discipline from different areas of the world.
In my final consideration, I believe that Campbell succeeds admirably
in recasting and explaining key issues of both historical and
contemporary language change from lively and engaging angles, aimed at
uncovering the hidden marvels and mysteries of such change phenomena
for the ultimate benefit of anyone curious about this captivating
field of human thought and experience. His rich, prior field research
output in the discipline enables him to write intelligibly and
lucidly, even for non-academic readers (see a cross-section of
Campbell's publications in the reference section below).
On the whole, I view the publication of Campbell’s new book as
significant and groundbreaking for the progressive development of
diachronic and synchronic linguistics on a global scale. I find his
reinterpretation of many core definitional concepts and underlying
occurrences in language history and description in the respective
chapters of the book very perceptive. I also find Campbell’s
re-characterization and re-interpretation of many difficult linguistic
concepts and terminologies in historical language research very
refreshing from an intellectual standpoint. On this basis, I warmly
recommend Campbell’s book specifically to readers with average
familiarity with matters related to language history and description.
REFERENCES
Campbell, Lyle, and Terrence Kaufman. 1976. A linguistic look at the
Olmecs. American Antiquity 41: 80–89.
Campbell, Lyle, and William J. Poser. 2008. Language Classification:
History and Method. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Campbell, Lyle, and Kenneth Rehg. 2018. Introduction. Handbook of
Endangered Languages, ed. by Kenneth Rehg and Lyle Campbell, 1–18.
Oxford: Oxford University Press
Campbell, Lyle, and Russell Barlow. 2020. Is language change good or
bad? Questions About Language: What Everyone Should Know about
Language in the 21st Century, ed. by Laurie Bauer and Andreea S.
Calude, 80–90. Abingdon: Routledge
Campbell, Lyle. 2020. Historical Linguistics: An Introduction, rev.
4th edition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Campbell, Lyle. 2022. Linguist on the Loose: Adventures and
Misadventures in Fieldwork. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Campbell, Lyle. 2024. The Indigenous Languages of the Americas:
History and Classification. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Philemon Gomwalk is a teacher and researcher currently affiliated with
the University of Jos in Nigeria, with research interests in the
diachronic linguistic study and analysis of languages belonging to the
Chadic sub-phylum of Afro-Asiatic within the Nigerian sociolinguistic
environment.



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