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Synopsis This is a thoroughly revised and expanded version of a book published earlier under the same title in 1972. It has been redrafted as an introductory text-book for students of linguistics by giving copious examples and also exercises and recommended readings. The first chapter lists and evaluates different kinds of evidence that form the basis for postulating sound changes. The second chapter examines the most important characteristics of sound change, namely regularity and irrevers-ibility. It also shows how some of the additional characteristics that are generally ascribed to sound change are yet to be authenticated. The third chapter describes various effects that sound changes can have upon the structuring of language. It examines them from five different points of view and shows how these provide different classifications of these effects. The last chapter examines the two well-known methods of reconstruction-internal and comparative-and shows how these could be due to several procedures of reconstruction. It also points out that the validity of each of these procedures depends upon the validity of the underlying hypothesis. This revised version has included suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, and a set of exercises for each chapter at the end of the book.