Historical Syntax and Linguistic Theory

by Paola Crisma, Giuseppe Longobardi

Overview

This book of new work by leading international scholars considers developments in the study of diachronic linguistics and linguistic theory, including those concerned with the very definition of language change in the biolinguistic framework, parametric change in a minimalist conception of grammar, the tension between the observed gradual nature of language change and the binary nature of parameters, and whether syntactic change can be triggered internally or requires the external stimuli produced by phonological or morphological change or through language contact. It then tests their value and applicability by examining syntactic change at different times and in a wide range of languages, including German, Chinese, Dutch, Sanskrit, Egyptian, Norwegian, old Italian, Portuguese, English, the Benue-Kwa languages of Niger-Congo, Catalan, Spanish, and old French. The book is divided into three parts devoted to (i) theoretical issues in historical syntax; (ii) external (such as contact and interference) and internal (grammatical) sources of morphosynactic change; and (iii) parameter setting and reanalysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199560547
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2009
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Paola Crisma studied in Venice, Geneva and Los Angeles and is currently Assistant Professor in English Linguistics at the University of Trieste, after teaching at Padua and being a Fulbright visiting scholar at MIT and UCLA. She has published on comparative syntax, syntax acquisition, and history of English.

Giuseppe Longobardi graduated from Pisa and is now Professor of General Linguistics at the University of Trieste, after teaching at Pisa and Venice. He held visiting positions at Vienna, UCLA, USC, Harvard, the CNRS in Paris, and published extensively on syntactic theory and historical syntax.

Table of Contents

1. Change, Relatedness, and Inertia in Historical Syntax, Paola Crisma and Giuseppe LongobardiPart I: Theoretical Issues in Historical Syntax2. Linguistic Theory and the Historical Creation of English Reflexives, Edward L. Keenan3. Spontaneous Syntactic Change, Chris H. Reintges4. The Return of the Subset Principle, Theresa Biberauer and Ian Roberts5. Many Small Catastrophes: Gradualism in a Microparametric Perspective, Marit R. WestergaardPart II: External and Internal Sources of Morphosyntaactic Change6. Feature Economy in the Linguistic Cycle, Elly van Gelderen7. Sources of Change in the German Syntax of Negation, Agnes Jäger8. The Consolidation of Verb-Second in Old High German: What Role did Subject Pronouns Play?, Katrin Axel9. Syntactic Change as Chain Reaction: The Emergence of Hyper-Raising in Brazilian Portuguese, Ana Maria Martins and Jairo Nunes10. On the Emergence of ter as an Existential Verb in Brazilian Portuguese, Juanito Avelar11. Gradience and Auxiliary Selection in Old Catalan and Old Spanish, Jaume Mateu12. Verb-to-Preposition Reanalysis in Chinese, Redouane Djamouri and Waltraud Paul13. Downward Reanalysis and the Rise of Stative HAVE Got, Heidi QuinnPart III: Parameter Resetting and Reanalysis14. The Old Chinese Determiner zhe, Edith Aldridge15. Grammaticalization of Modals in Dutch: Uncontingent Change, Griet Coupé and Ans van Kemenade16. Correlative Clause Features in Sanskrit and Hindi/Urdu, Alice Davison17. For a Diachronic Theory of Genitive Assignment in Romance, Denis Delfitto and Paola Paradisi18. Expletive pro and Misagreement in Late Middle English, Kleanthes K. Grohmann and RIchard Ingham19. Morphosyntactic Parameters and the Internal Classification of Denue-Kwa (Niger-Congo), VIctor Manfredi20. On the Germanic Properties of Old French, Éric Mathieu21. A Parametric Shift in the D-system in Early Middle English: Relativization, Articles, Adjectival Inflection, and Indeterminates, Akira Watanabe