Competing Models of Linguistic Change

Abstract

1. Introduction (by Nedergaard Thomsen, Ole) 2. I: General considerations of language change 3. The non-linear nature of diachronic change (by Fortescue, Michael) 4. Explanations, or...?: Some metatheoretical reflections on a prevalent tradition within historical linguistics (by Maehlum, Brit) 5. Quantifying the functional load of phonemic oppositions, distinctive features, and suprasegmentals (by Surendran, Dinoj) 6. II: The concept of 'evolution' as an explanatory model of language change: Pro et contra synchrony, diachrony, and evolution 7. Synchrony, Diachrony, and Evolution (by Andersen, Henning) 8. The relevance of an evolutionary model to historical linguistics (by Croft, William A.) 9. III: Functional factors in 'evolution': Functional motivation of selection 10. Grammaticalization of indirect object cross-reference in Spanish as a case of drift (by Bascunan, Silvia Becerra) 11. The role of functional factors in language change: An evolutionary approach (by Seiler, Guido) 12. Computational modelling of prototypicality in language change: Neutralization to schwa, default logic, and the history of the German noun (by Vazquez-Larruscain, Miguel) 13. IV: Cognitive perspectives on semantico-syntactic change: Mental Grammar, Cognitive Grammar, and Dynamic Syntax 14. From propositional syntax in Old Russian to situational syntax in Modern Russian (by Durst-Andersen, Per) 15. Construal operations in semantic change: The case of abstract nouns (by Ekberg, Lena) 16. Clitic Placement in Old and Modern Spanish: A Dynamic Account (by Bouzouita, Miriam) 17. V: Grammaticalization studies: Content and evolution 18. Grammaticalisation as content reanalysis: The modal character of the Danish s-passive (by Heltoft, Lars) 19. Aspect and animacy in the history of Russian: Developing the idea of parallel grammaticalization (by Norgard-Sorensen, Jens) 20. VI: Towards an integrated functional-pragmatic theory of language and language change 21. Towards an integrated functional-pragmatic theory of language and language change: In commemoration of Eugenio Coseriu (1921-2002) (by Nedergaard Thomsen, Ole) 22. Index 23. Contributors