what is tha academic relationship between history and linguistics?

Answer 1

History has had a profound impact on linguistics. It depends on where you want to look. In Spain there are still words that come from Arabic (ojalá) due to the invasions from the Moors.
In Latin America they speak Spanish because Spain invaded them.
In the U.S. many words are spelled differently than in British English because of the paranoia regarding Europe and the desire to have things separate and different.
Everywhere you look you can see how history has affected the languages that we speak, certain words that a part of them and the influence one language may have. In Mexico they say popote for straw because of the Mayan influence. A different word is used in other countries. There are countless examples like this.

Answer 2

Academically, Linguistics, as a science, evolved out of Philosophy and Languages actually. It did not evolve out of the discipline of History. Indeed, the first person to be considered a true Linguist in the modern sense was Sir William Jones, a judge in India. His understanding of languages was what led him to the remarkable conclusion that Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit were sprung from some common source. This was the starting point of modern Linguistic science. The German linguists of the 19th century (Jakob Grimm, Rask, etc.) came to the science out of the study of Languages and Philosophy. Even today, if you shop at Barnes and Nobles bookstores, they put Linguistics books after Philosophy books and nowhere near Languages. Borders puts them more logically near Languages, but B&N follows the older notion that Linguistics is a part of Philosophy.

Answer 3

There is a branch of linguistics -- historical linguistics -- that uses the methods that historians use to examine changes in languages over time.