Synchrony, Diachrony, and Evolution

Chapters in this book

1. Prelim pages i
2. Table of contents v
3. Introduction 1
4. I: General considerations of language change
5. The non-linear nature of diachronic change 17
6. Explanations, or…? 33
7. Quantifying the functional load of phonemic oppositions, distinctive features, and suprasegmentals 43
8. II: The concept of ‘evolution’ as an explanatory model of language change: Pro et contra synchrony, diachrony, and evolution
9. Synchrony, Diachrony, and Evolution 59
10. The relevance of an evolutionary model to historical linguistics 91
11. III: Functional factors in ‘evolution’: Functional motivation of selection
12. Grammaticalization of indirect object cross-reference in Spanish as a case of drift 133
13. The role of functional factors in language change 163
14. Computational modelling of prototypicality in language change 183
15. IV: Cognitive perspectives on semantico-syntactic change: Mental Grammar, Cognitive Grammar, and Dynamic Syntax
16. From propositional syntax in Old Russian to situational syntax in Modern Russian 211
17. Construal operations in semantic change 235
18. Clitic Placement in Old and Modern Spanish 253
19. V: Grammaticalization studies: Content and evolution
20. Grammaticalisation as content reanalysis 269
21. Aspect and animacy in the history of Russian 289
22. VI: Towards an integrated functional-pragmatic theory of language and language change
23. Towards an integrated functional-pragmatic theory of language and language change 307
24. Index 339
25. Contributors 343