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Q&A Why is linguistics limited in how much it can look back in time?

I've often seen that "we can only look back in time a short distance in linguistics". What prevents linguistics from deducing information far in the past? Is this limit something that can be pushed...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by user53100‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

#1: Initial revision by user avatar user53100‭ · 2020-08-06T08:48:57Z (about 4 years ago)
Why is linguistics limited in how much it can look back in time?
I've often seen that ["we can only look back in time a short distance in linguistics"](https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/315#comment602_315). What prevents linguistics from deducing information far in the past? Is this limit something that can be pushed back with development of the science of linguistics?