Abstract
There are three - and only three - mechanisms of grammatical change: Reanalysis (including the different aspects of grammaticalization), Analogy, and External Borrowing. These three mechanisms, implying processes of de-categorization, or generalization, or language contact, are described in detail. Examples are taken in typologically different languages. The motivations of grammatical change that could trigger off the mechanisms are the following: (i) semantic-pragmatic change (processes of metaphorization, of pragmatic inferencing or metonymyzation, of subjectification), (ii) typological extension, (iii) structural requirement, (iv) phonological change. The semantic-pragmatic change, related to conceptual change and different cognitive processes, is crucial.
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