This course discusses how language learning and language use interact with the properties of Universal Grammar to produce observed patterns of syntactic change. The approach is based on studies of change carried out over the past 15 years with both structural/grammatical and with quantitative methods. Our goal of the course will be to understand what has been learned in two important domains:

• the relationship between grammatical change and variability in language acquisition by native speakers and second language learners.
• the relationship between change in grammar and change in usage frequencies as found in historical texts, paying particular attention to the degree to which patterns in usage are determined by the underlying grammar.

1. Language learning and language change
2. Grammar change in the community and the individual
3. Statistical fingerprints of grammar change in historical texts
4. A case study of grammar change: the loss of OV word order in English

All of the readings for the course are available online as pdf files via the links below. These files can be read and printed out with Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download here from Adobe.

Pdf files of the slides for the lectures will appear here as the lectures are given:

• Lecture 1
• Lecture 2
• Lecture 3
• Lecture 4

Lecture 1. Language learning and language change: How syntactic innovations arise.

primary readings:

Anthony Kroch. 2001. Syntactic change. In Baltin and Collins, eds., Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory. Blackwell.

David Lightfoot. 1999. The Development of Language. Blackwell. chapter 3: Grammars and language acquisition.

Ellen Prince and Susan Pintzuk. 2000. Bilingual code-switching and the open/closed class distinction. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics. vol 6, no. 3. (text from 1984).

further readings:

David Lightfoot. 1999. The Development of Language. Blackwell. chapter 6: Cue-based acquisition and change in grammars.

Natascha Müller. 1996. V2 in first-language acquisition: Early child grammars fall within the range of universal grammar. Linguistics. vol. 34.

Lecture 2. Grammar change in the community and the individual: How syntactic change spreads through the community.

primary readings:

Anthony Kroch. 1994. Morphosyntactic variation. In Beals et al., eds., Proceedings of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society.

David Lightfoot. 1999. The Development of Language. Blackwell. chapter 4: Gradualism and catastrophes.

further readings:

David Denison. 2003. Log(ist)ic and simplistic S-curves. In Hickey, ed., Motives for Language Change. Cambridge University Press.

Ann Taylor. 1994. Variation in past tense formation in the history of English. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics. vol. 1.

Lecture 3. Statistical fingerprints of grammar change in historical texts: quantitative properties of change in progress.

primary readings:

Anthony Kroch. 1989. Reflexes of grammar in patterns of language change. Language Variation and Change. vol. 1.

Beatrice Santorini. 1993. The rate of phrase structure change in the history of Yiddish. Language Variation and Change. vol. 5.

Ann Taylor. 1994. The change from SOV to SVO in Ancient Greek. Language Variation and Change. vol. 6.

further readings:

Stefan Frisch. 1997. The change in negation in Middle English: a NEGP licensing account. Lingua. vol 101.

Chung-hye Han. 2000. The evolution of do-support in English imperatives. In Pintzuk, Tsoulas and Warner, eds., Diachronic Syntax: Models and Mechanisms. Oxford University Press.

Chung-hye Han and Anthony Kroch. 2000. The rise of do-support in English: implications for clause structure. In Hirotani et al., eds., Proceedings of the 30th Meeting of the North East Linguistics Society.

Lecture 4. A case study of grammar change: the loss of OV word order in English.

primary readings:

Anthony Kroch and Ann Taylor. 2000. Verb-object order in Early Middle English. In Pintzuk, Tsoulas and Warner, eds., Diachronic Syntax: Models and Mechanisms. Oxford University Press.

Susan Pintzuk. 2002. Verb-object order in Old English: variation as grammatical competition. In Lightfoot, ed., Syntactic Effects of Morphological Change. Oxford University Press.

further readings:

Cynthia Allen. 2000. Obsolescence and sudden death in syntax: the decline of verb-final order in Early Middle English. In Bermudez-Otero et al., eds., Generative Theory and Corpus Studies: A Dialogue from the 10th ICEHL. Mouton.

Lars-Olaf Delsing. 2000. From OV to VO in Swedish. In Pintzuk, Tsoulas and Warner, eds., Diachronic Syntax: Models and Mechanisms. Oxford University Press.

Eric Fuss and Carola Trips. 2001. Variation and change in Old and Middle English: on the validity of the double base hypothesis. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics. vol. 4.

Susan Pintzuk. 1995. Variation and change in Old English clause structure. Language Variation and Change. vol. 7.

Susan Pintzuk and Anthony Kroch. 1989. On the rightward movement of complements and adjuncts in the Old English of Beowulf. Language Variation and Change. vol. 1.