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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...
Question
historical-linguistics
#1: Initial revision
by
user53100
·
2020-08-06T08:48:57Z (over 3 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?