Syntactic Change: A Minimalist Approach to Grammaticalization

✍ Scribed by Ian Roberts, Anna Roussou

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 289
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Linguistics
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

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.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Acknowledgements......Page 13
Introduction......Page 15
1.1 Introduction: the logical problem of language change......Page 23
1.2 Functional categories......Page 31
1.3 The nature of parameters: interface interpretation of functional categories......Page 41
1.4 Conclusion......Page 47
2.0 Introduction......Page 49
2.1 From verb to auxiliary: the development of English modals......Page 50
2.2 Romance futures......Page 62
2.3 The Greek future......Page 72
2.4 Conclusion......Page 85
3.0 Introduction......Page 87
3.1.1 The status of na in Modern Greek......Page 88
3.2.1 The properties of mu......Page 102
3.2.2 The development of mu......Page 107
3.3.1 The properties of to......Page 111
3.3.2 The history of to-infinitives......Page 117
3.4.1 that: demonstrative vs. complementizer......Page 124
3.4.2 The development of that......Page 130
3.5.1 Introduction......Page 135
3.5.2 Quotative constructions and complementizers......Page 136
3.5.3 V > C vs. V > P reanalysis......Page 141
3.6 Conclusion......Page 143
4.1 Determiners out of demonstratives......Page 145
4.2.1 Some remarks on negation......Page 150
4.2.2 The development of French n-words......Page 160
4.2.3 The negative cycle......Page 168
4.3 Wh-elements......Page 175
4.4 Universal quantifiers......Page 181
4.5.1 Introduction......Page 189
4.5.2 The development of agreement markers in Venetian......Page 192
4.6 Affixal agreement: Welsh and Indo-European......Page 200
4.7 Conclusion......Page 206
5.0 Introduction......Page 208
5.1 A general characterization of grammaticalization......Page 209
5.2.1 Structural simplification and language acquisition......Page 216
5.2.2 Grammaticalization and other syntactic changes......Page 219
5.2.3 Descriptive and explanatory adequacy in diachronic syntax......Page 223
5.3.1 ‘Semantic bleaching’ and the logical nature of functional categories......Page 232
5.3.2 Speculations on phonological reduction......Page 238
5.3.3 A speculative characterization of functional categories......Page 243
5.3.4 Remarks on the functional hierarchy......Page 246
5.4 Conclusion......Page 248
References......Page 251
Index of languages......Page 271
Index of names......Page 274
Index of subjects......Page 278