Introduction -- Functional and cognitive aspects of change -- In what sense can explanations of language change be functional? -- Grasping the invisible hand -- The cognitive calculus and its function in language -- Tracing the origin of a change -- The rise of switch-reference in the Awyu languages of Irian Jaya -- Linguistic activity and change -- "Scenario" as a concept for the functional explanation of language change -- Changes in diminutive formation in the eastern Dutch dialect of Twente -- Reformed versus Catholic: the origins of the [hu:s]/[hy:s] isogloss in eastern Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century -- Indirectness in speech acts from a diachronic perspective: some evolutionary aspects of rhetorical questions in Spanish dialogue -- Typology and language change -- On the use of subjunctive and indicative verb-forms in adverbial clauses -- Nominal syntax in Italic: a diachronic perspective.