Cover image for Diachronic Syntax.
Diachronic Syntax.
Title:
Diachronic Syntax.
Author:
Roberts, Ian.
ISBN:
9780191536243
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (523 pages)
Series:
Oxford Textbooks in Linguistics
Contents:
Contents -- Preface -- List of Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Introduction -- Further reading -- 1. Comparative and historical syntax in the principles-and parameters-approach -- Introduction -- 1.1. UG and variation in grammatical systems -- 1.2. The null-subject parameter -- 1.2.1. The null-subject parameter in the synchronic dimension -- 1.2.2. The null-subject parameter in the diachronic dimension: changes in the history of French -- 1.3. Verb-movement parameters -- 1.3.1. Verb-movement in the synchronic dimension -- 1.3.2. Verb-movement in the diachronic dimension -- 1.4. Negative concord -- 1.4.1. Negative concord synchronically -- 1.4.2. Negative concord in the diachronic dimension: the development of French n-words -- 1.5. Wh-movement -- 1.5.1. The wh-movement parameter -- 1.5.2. Wh-movement in the diachronic domain: Old Japanese -- 1.6. Head-complement order -- 1.6.1. Head-complement order synchronically -- 1.6.2. Head-complement order diachronically -- 1.7. Summary -- Further reading -- 2. Types of syntactic change -- Introduction -- 2.1. Reanalysis -- 2.1.1. The nature of reanalysis -- 2.1.2. The Transparency Principle -- 2.1.3. Phonology and reanalysis -- 2.1.4. Expressing parameters -- 2.1.5. Reanalysis and the poverty of the stimulus -- 2.1.6. Conclusion -- 2.2. Grammaticalization -- 2.3. Argument structure -- 2.3.1. Thematic roles and grammatical functions -- 2.3.2. Changes in English psych verbs and recipient passives -- 2.4. Changes in complementation -- 2.5. Word-order change: OV > VO in English -- 2.5.1. Introduction -- 2.5.2. Early typological approaches to word-order change -- 2.5.3. Generative accounts and directionality parameters -- 2.5.4. 'Antisymmetric' approaches to word-order change -- 2.5.5. Conclusion -- 2.6. Conclusion to Chapter 2 -- Further reading -- 3. Acquisition, learnability, and syntactic change.

Introduction -- 3.1. First-language acquisition from a principles-and-parameters perspective -- 3.2. The logical problem of language change -- 3.3. The changing trigger -- 3.3.1. Contact-driven parameter-resetting -- 3.3.2. Cue-driven parameter-resetting -- 3.3.3. Morphologically-driven parameter-resetting -- 3.3.4. Conclusion -- 3.4. Markedness and complexity -- 3.4.1. The concept of markedness -- 3.4.2. Markedness and parameters -- 3.4.3. The Subset Principle -- 3.4.4. Markedness and core grammar -- 3.4.5. Markedness and inflectional morphology -- 3.4.6. Markedness, directionality, and uniformitarianism -- 3.4.7. Conclusion -- 3.5. Parameter setting and change -- 3.5.1. A format for parameters -- 3.5.2. A markedness convention for syntax -- 3.5.3. From unmarked to marked -- 3.5.4. Networks of parameters -- 3.5.5. Conclusion -- 3.6. Conclusion to Chapter 3 -- Further reading -- 4. The dynamics of syntactic change -- Introduction -- 4.1. Gradualness -- 4.1.1. Introduction -- 4.1.2. Lexical diffusion -- 4.1.3. Microparametric change -- 4.1.4. Formal optionality -- 4.1.5. The Constant Rate Effect -- 4.1.6. Conclusion -- 4.2. The spread of syntactic change -- 4.2.1. Introduction -- 4.2.2. Orderly differentiation and social stratification -- 4.2.3. Grammars in competition -- 4.2.4. Formal optionality again -- 4.2.5. Abduction and actuation -- 4.2.6. Change in progress? Null subjects in Brazilian Portuguese -- 4.2.7. Conclusion -- 4.3. Drift: the question of the direction of change -- 4.3.1. Introduction -- 4.3.2. Typological approaches to drift -- 4.3.3. Drift and parametric change -- 4.3.4. Cascading parameter changes in the history of English -- 4.3.5. Conclusion -- 4.4. Reconstruction -- 4.4.1. Introduction -- 4.4.2. Traditional comparative reconstruction -- 4.4.3. Questions about syntactic reconstruction -- 4.4.4. The correspondence problem.

4.4.5. The 'pool of variants' problem -- 4.4.6. Parametric comparison -- 4.4.7. Conclusion -- 4.5. Conclusion to Chapter 4 -- Further reading -- 5. Contact, creoles, and change -- Introduction -- 5.1. Second-language acquisition, interlanguage, and syntactic change -- 5.2. Contact and substrata -- 5.2.1. Introduction -- 5.2.2. Contact and word-order change in the history of English -- 5.2.3. Substratum effects: Hiberno-English and Welsh English -- 5.2.4. A 'borrowing scale' -- 5.2.5. Conclusion -- 5.3. Creoles and creolization -- 5.3.1. Introduction: pidgins and creoles -- 5.3.2. The Language Bioprogram Hypothesis -- 5.3.3. The substratum/relexification hypothesis -- 5.3.4. Conclusion: how 'exceptional' are creoles? -- 5.4. Language creation in Nicaragua -- 5.5. Conclusion to Chapter 5 -- Further reading -- Epilogue -- Glossary -- A -- B -- C -- D -- F -- G -- H -- I -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- References -- Index of Subjects -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Index of Names -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- Y -- Z -- Index of Languages -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- Y.
Abstract:
This book shows how the generative approach to linguistics may be used to understand how languages change. Ian Roberts explains how generative theory can throw light on central questions in historical linguistics, including word-order change, grammaticalization, and reanalysis. He examines the links between syntactic change and first-language acquisition and considers the effects of language contact. He provides numerous examples from a range of different languages, guides to. further reading, and a comprehensive glossary. This is the ideal textbook introduction for students of syntactic change. - ;This book shows how the generative approach to linguistics may be used to understand how languages change. Generative diachronic syntax has developed since the inception of the principles and parameters approach to comparative syntax in the early 1980s: it has become increasingly important in historical linguistics and generative theory, acting as a bridge between them and providing insights to both. Ian Roberts relates work in historical linguistics to contemporary work on. universal grammar and historical syntactic variation. He explains how standard questions in historical linguistics - including word-order change, grammaticalization, and reanalysis - can be explored in terms of current generative theory. He examines the nature of the links between syntactic change and. first-language acquisition and considers the short and long-term effects of language contact. Professor Roberts provides numerous examples from a range of different languages, guides to further reading, and a comprehensive glossary. This is the ideal textbook introduction for students of syntactic change. - ;...this work gathers together a wealth of research linking language change to a numbe of other linguistic areas, and as such is ambitious in its scope. It is a welcome addition

to the body of literature on language change. - Johanna L. Wood Folia Linguistica;Diachronic syntax will serve as an incentive and inspiration for generative researchers of historical linguistics. - Marion Elenbass, Journal of Linguistics;TEXTBOOK - Marion Elenbass, Journal of Linguistics.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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