Grammaticalization and parametric variation / edited by Montse Batllori ... [et al.].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Batllori

Contributor:

Batllori, Montse.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Grammaticalization.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Language and languages--Variation.

Language and languages.

Physical Description:

xvii, 313 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.

Summary:

In this outstanding collection of new work the methods and theories of formal syntax are focussed on grammatical variation and change. The editors open the volume with an extensive and accessible introduction to the ideas and techniques deployed in the book and the phenomena and issues on which they are brought to bear. Seventeen chapters follow, divided into two parts, the first concerned with grammaticalization and the second with parametric variation. These showwhat the application of contemporary theories of syntax and language variation can reveal about syntactic change and variation and the processes of parametric change which lie behind them. They also demonstrate the value of testing and constructing synchronic theories on the basis of historical data.The analyses range over many languages and language families, including Germanic, Romance, Greek, and Chinese.This book will interest scholars and students of grammatical change and theory at graduate level and above.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Notes on contributors

Abbreviations

1 Grammaticalization and Parametric Change

Part I. Grammaticalization

2 Grammaticalization, Reanalysis, and CP Layering

3 Verb Movement and Clitics: Variation and Change in Portuguese

4 Changes in Clausal Organization and the Position of Clitics in Old French

5 Exceptional Case Marking in Brazilian Portuguese

6 Reanalysis and Conservancy of Structure in Chinese

7 Definite Reference in Old and Modern French: The Rise and Fall of DP

8 The Reanalysis of the French Prepositional System: A Case of Grammaticalization in Competing Grammars

9 Accusative Alternation in Old and Modern Romance

Part II. Parametric Variation

10 Parametric Comparison and Language Taxonomy

11 Clitic Placement, VP-Ellipsis, and Scrambling in Romance

12 Microvariation in French Negation Markers: A Historical Perspective

13 Sì and e as CP Expletives in Old Italian

14 Split wh-Constructions in Classical and Modern Greek: A Diachronic Perspective

15 The Syntax of Objects in Old English

16 Clause Type Asymmetries in Old English and the Syntax of Verb Movement

References

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [284]-307) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781280905674

1280905670

9780191534065

0191534064

9780191709821

0191709824

OCLC:

476256679