Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a detailed account of the changes affecting pronoun paradigms in a sample of thirteen languages of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The reconstruction demonstrates a number of interesting diachronic trends including analogical levelling, the loss and later reintroduction of inclusive/exclusive person categories and the waxing and waning of nominative/ergative case syncretisms. In addition, it appears that many of the changes are the result of pattern diffusion. Taken together, the changes detailed in this study present a rich catalogue of the kinds of changes which can be expected to have occurred in the development of Australian languages more generally.

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