Syntactic Change
Syntactic Change
The phenomenon of grammaticalization--the historical process whereby new grammatical material is created--has attracted a great deal of attention within linguistics in recent years. This book shows how this approach leads to a number of important conceptual and theoretical issues concerning the nature of functional categories and the form of parameters, as well as the relation of both of these to language change.
- First formal treatment of grammaticalisation
- First book-length study of diachronic syntax using minimalism
- Relates language to linguistic theory and language acquisition
Reviews & endorsements
"a welcome and unique contribution to the vast body of research on grammaticalization. It offers a perspective different from the more functionalist or cognitivist perspective one usually finds ... and it is well-organized, well-written, and well-argued. This work is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in the nature of syntactic change."
IJGLSA
Product details
June 2008Paperback
9780521066846
288 pages
229 × 152 × 17 mm
0.43kg
5 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1. Parameters, functional heads and language change
- 2. T elements
- 3. C elements
- 4. D elements
- 5. Theoretical consequences
- References
- Index of languages
- Index of names
- Index of subjects.
