Diachronic Syntax Models and Mechanisms

Linguistic theory has undergone deep changes since the early 1990's, given the widespread impact of Chomsky's Minimalist Programme, Kayne's Antisymmetry Theory, and Kayne's Theory of Overt Movement. This work has brought into sharper focus questions concerning the architecture of linguistic theory that have a direct impact on our understanding of the process of change. Here, Pintzuk, Tsoulas, and Warner have brought together chapters which demonstrate the pivotal position of historical syntax within the larger domain of research into the nature, use, and acquisition of language. They show how current work in historical syntax is responsive to theoretical advances in linguistic theory, language acquisition, sociolinguistics, and theories of language use, as well as to less adjacent fields such as statistical techniques and evolutionary biology.

Susan Pintzuk is Lecturer in Linguistics in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York. Her research interests include syntactic variation and change in the history of English; and quantitative modelling of syntactic change in Germanic. She is currently investigating, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the change in verb-complement word order in the history of English. She also collaborates with researchers in the USA, the Netherlands, and Switzerland on the syntactic annotation for the Old English section of the Helsinki corpus.
George Tsoulas is Lecturer in Linguistics and French in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York. His research interests include syntactic theory (especially Minimalism); syntax/semantics interface; syntax of Greek and French; and philosophy of Language.
Anthony Warner is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of Yo