Mechanisms of Syntactic Change

Published by University of Texas Press 1977

Mechanisms of Syntactic Change

Edited by: Charles N. Li

https://doi.org/10.7560/750357

Overview
Contents

About this book

Historical linguistics, the oldest field in linguistics, has been traditionally dominated by phonological and etymological investigations. Only in the late twentieth century have linguists begun to focus their interest and research on the area of syntactic change and the insight it provides on the nature of language. This volume represents the first major contribution on the mechanisms of syntactic change.

The fourteen articles that make up this volume were selected from the Symposium on the Mechanisms of Syntactic Change held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1976, one of a series of three conferences sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

These papers clearly demonstrate that the generative approach to the study of language does not explain diachronic processes in syntax. This collection is enlightening, provocative, and carefully documented with data drawn from a great variety of language families.

Author / Editor information

Charles N. Li is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Participants Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
I. The Nature of Syntactic Change
1. On the Gradual Nature of Syntactic Change Sandra Chung Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2. Syntactic Reanalysis Ronald Langacker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
3. Reanalysis and Actualization in Syntactic Change Alan Timberlake Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
II. Word Order Change
4. The Drift from VSO to SVO in Biblical Hebrew: The Pragmatics of Tense-Aspect Talmy Givón Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
5. Syntactic Change and SOV Structure: The Yuman Case Margaret Langdon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255
6. Motivations for Exbraciation in Old English Robert Stockwell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	291
III. Syntactic Change and Ergativity
7. On Mechanisms by Which Languages Become Ergative Stephen Anderson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	317
8. The Syntactic Development of Australian Languages R. Dixon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	365
IV. Development of the Copula
9. A Mechanism for the Development of Copula Morphemes Charles Li and Sandra Thompson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	419
10. From Existential to Copula: The History of Yuman BE Pamela Munro Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	445
V. Clisis and Verb Morphology
11. The Evolution of Third Person Verb Agreement in the Iroquoian Languages Wallace Chafe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	493
12. From Auxiliary Verb Phrase to Inflectional Suffix Mary Haas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	525
13. Clisis and Diachrony Susan Steele Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	539
VI. Multiple Analyses
14. Multiple Analyses Jorge Hankamer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	583
Author Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	609
Language Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	615

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Copyright year: 1977
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 640

eBook

Published: September 12, 2014
ISBN: 9781477301043