Philology

Philology was one of the many fields of study that interested the Reverend Mr William Macksey. He had many books and journals covering the subject, as well as theology, philosophy and ecclesiastical history. (PROSE: The Sleep of Reason)

Behind the scenes
Though unremarked in DWU texts, philology was, roughly, the study of how words transformed over time. One of its foundational concepts was Grimms' Law of Consonantal Shift — a central notion of the televised story, State of Decay.