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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Richard Waltereit
This article presents a critical discussion of Inertia Theory (Longobardi 2001; 2003), according to which syntactic change never originates in syntax itself. We argue that syntactic change originates in language usage, which includes the possibility that it may be triggered by genuinely syntactic factors. In order to substantiate this claim, two syntactic changes are studied in detail, namely the rise of French est-ce que as an interrogative particle and the reanalysis of presentational hay + noun “there is + noun” in Spanish. We show that the reanalysis of est-ce que as a marker of ‘strong’ interrogation is pragmatically motivated and brought about by frequent usage. By contrast, the reanalysis of impersonal presentative hay + noun in certain varieties of Spanish is shown to be triggered by conflicting linking strategies, and must therefore be considered an instance of syntactically motivated syntactic change.
Author(s): Detges, U, Waltereit, R
Editor(s): Detges, U., Waltereit, R.
Publication type: Book Chapter
Publication status: Published
Book Title: The Paradox of Grammatical Change: Perspectives from Romance
Year: 2008
Volume: 293
Pages: 13–30
Series Title: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory
Publisher: John Benjamins
Place Published: Amsterdam & Philadelphia
URL: http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=CILT%20293
Library holdings: Search Newcastle University Library for this item
ISBN: 9789027248084
