internal reconstruction

American  

noun

Historical Linguistics.

1. the hypothetical reconstruction of an earlier stage of a language or of some part of it, as its phonology, by deductions from irregularities in its present structure, as the reconstruction of a stage in English when certain instances of r were related to s in a systematic way by comparing the pair was:were to other pairs, as lose:forlorn.

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Example Sentences

But before, all attention was on the border, and now we can concentrate on internal reconstruction.”

From New York Times

Moreover, Japan has had another and not less important business to attend to, that is to say, she had to trim herself, and complete her internal reconstruction, a task which may not perhaps come to its completion for a long time to come.

From Project Gutenberg

Accordingly, in 1877 the chapel was closed, and a sum of money arising from the sale of the Guards' Institute was devoted to the purpose of a complete internal reconstruction.

From Project Gutenberg

Internal reconstruction, while men are still limited, egotistical, passionate, ignorant, and ignorantly led, means seditions and revolutions, and the rectification of frontiers means wars.

From Project Gutenberg

As regards the internal reconstruction of France, the case is very different.

From Project Gutenberg