Historical morphology [Papers prepared for the International Conference on Historical Morphology held at Boszkowo, Poland, 15-18 March 1978

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing. Preface 5 List of Conference Participants 11 Morphological change: towards a typology 15 On the development of morphology from syntax 65 The relevance of productivity in a synchronic description of word formation 85 Morphology and word order reconstruction: problems and prospects 97 The diachrony of the gender systems in English and Dutch 111 Some notes on Byelorussian historical morphology 127 Case, word order and coding in a historical linguistic perspective 141 The marking of definiteness in Romance 155 Child morphology and morphophonemic change 171 The evolution of genitive-accusative animate and personal nouns in Slavic dialects 203 Zero in morphology: a means of making up for phonological losses 227 Paradigm coherence and the conditioning of sound change: Yiddish ‘schwa-deletion’ again 265 The place of morphology in a universal cybernetic theory of language change 287 Laws of analogy 297 Encoding grammatical relations: acceptable and unacceptable non-distinctness 303 The functional development of the verbal suffix +esc+ in Romance 341 Paradigmatic displacement 363 Morphological instability, with and without language contact 373 Problems of morphology seen from the structuralist and functionalist point of view 387 Words versus morphemes in morphological change: the case of Italian -iamo 397 On gender change in linguistic borrowing (Old English) 413 Morphological signalling of selection properties: transitiveness in Tocharian B and A verbs 435 Ways of morphologizing phonological rules 457 Index of terms 477 Index of languages 479 Index of names 484

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks, as well as studies that provide new insights by approaching language from an interdisciplinary perspective. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.