Historical Syntax and Linguistic Theory (Hardcover)

Paola Crisma

ISBN 10: 0199560544 / ISBN 13: 9780199560547

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009

About this Item

Hardcover. This book of new work by leading international scholars considers developments in the study of diachronic linguistics and linguistic theory, including those concerned with the very definition of language change in the biolinguistic framework, parametric change in a minimalist conception of grammar, the tension between the observed gradual nature of language change and the binary nature of parameters, and whether syntactic change can be triggered internally orrequires the external stimuli produced by phonological or morphological change or through language contact. It then tests their value and applicability by examining syntactic change at different times and ina wide range of languages, including German, Chinese, Dutch, Sanskrit, Egyptian, Norwegian, old Italian, Portuguese, English, the Benue-Kwa languages of Niger-Congo, Catalan, Spanish, and old French. The book is divided into three parts devoted to (i) theoretical issues in historical syntax; (ii) external (such as contact and interference) and internal (grammatical) sources of morphosynactic change; and (iii) parameter setting and reanalysis. This book of new work by leading international scholars considers developments in the study of historical linguistics and grammatical theory. It then tests their value and applicability by examining diachronic transmission of syntax at different times and in a wide range of languages. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780199560547

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Historical Syntax and Linguistic Theory (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199560544
• ISBN 13: 9780199560547
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

This book of new work by leading international scholars considers developments in the study of diachronic linguistics and linguistic theory, including those concerned with the very definition of language change in the biolinguistic framework, parametric change in a minimalist conception of grammar, the tension between the observed gradual nature of language change and the binary nature of parameters, and whether syntactic change can be triggered internally or requires the external stimuli produced by phonological or morphological change or through language contact. It then tests their value and applicability by examining syntactic change at different times and in a wide range of languages, including German, Chinese, Dutch, Sanskrit, Egyptian, Norwegian, old Italian, Portuguese, English, the Benue-Kwa languages of Niger-Congo, Catalan, Spanish, and old French. The book is divided into three parts devoted to (i) theoretical issues in historical syntax; (ii) external (such as contact and interference) and internal (grammatical) sources of morphosynactic change; and (iii) parameter setting and reanalysis.

About the Author

Paola Crisma studied in Venice, Geneva and Los Angeles and is currently Assistant Professor in English Linguistics at the University of Trieste, after teaching at Padua and being a Fulbright visiting scholar at MIT and UCLA. She has published on comparative syntax, syntax acquisition, and history of English.

Giuseppe Longobardi graduated from Pisa and is now Professor of General Linguistics at the University of Trieste, after teaching at Pisa and Venice. He held visiting positions at Vienna, UCLA, USC, Harvard, the CNRS in Paris, and published extensively on syntactic theory and historical syntax.