Cycles in Language Change

Abstract

AbstractThe notion of ‘linguistic cycle’ has long been recognized as being relevant to the descriptions of many processes of language change. In a process known as grammaticalization, a given linguistic form loses its lexical meaning as well as some of its phonological content, and then gradually weakens, until it ultimately vanishes. This process of change becomes cyclic when the grammaticalized form is replaced by an innovative item, which can develop along exactly the same pathway. This volume unites thirteen chapters which address aspects of cyclical change from a wide variety of empirical perspectives. Couched in the generative framework, the contributions to this book bear witness to the rapidly growing interest among Chomskyan syntacticians in the phenomenon of grammaticalization. Topics touched upon include, but are not limited to, the diachrony of negation (in the context of, but also beyond, Jespersen’s Cycle), the syntax of determiners and pronominal clitics, the internal structure of wh-words and logical operators, cyclical changes in argument structure, and the relationship between morphology and syntax. One conclusion that transpires is that the correlation between cyclical change and grammaticalization—though undeniable—is perhaps less strong than sometimes assumed. Given its emphasis on empirical data description and theoretical analysis, Cycles in Language Change will be of interest to historical linguists working in formal and usage-based frameworks, and more broadly to scholars interested in language variation and change.