Editing Philology (section)

=== Comparative ===
{{main|Comparative philology}}
[[File:Indo European philology historical and comparative 1969.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''Indo-European Philology: Historical and Comparative'' by [[William Burley Lockwood]] (1969)]]

The [[comparative linguistics]] branch of philology studies the relationship between languages. Similarities between [[Sanskrit]] and [[European languages]] were first noted in the early 16th century<ref>This is noted in Juan Mascaro's introduction to his translation of the ''Bhagavad Gita'', in which he dates the first ''Gita'' translation to 1785 (by Charles Williams). Mascaro claims the linguist [[Alexander Hamilton (linguist)|Alexander Hamilton]] stopped in Paris in 1802 after returning from India, and taught Sanskrit to the German critic [[Friedrich von Schlegel]]. Mascaro says this is the beginning of modern study of the roots of the Indo-European languages.</ref> and led to speculation of a common ancestor language from which all these descended. It is now named [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]. Philology's interest in ancient languages led to the study of what was, in the 18th century, "exotic" languages, for the light they could cast on problems in understanding and [[decipher]]ing the origins of older texts.