Language Change: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of recent advances in empirical, theoretical, and experimental research on language change, with a focus on semantic evolution. Bridging the gap between historical linguistics, rooted in philology, and formal semantics, grounded in mathematical logic, it uncovers how insights from one discipline can illuminate the other. Delving into a wide range of linguistic phenomena, and tracking both entailed and presupposed content in historical change, the book examines semantic topics such as causation, concession, negation, reflexivity, numerals, and approximatives, alongside topics related to temporal and aspectual features of language. It also explores pragmatic concepts like topic marking and mirativity. Some papers in the volume focus on morphological and syntactic language change, discussing the rate of morphological change, patterns of subordination, periphrastic structure, and Differential Object Marking. By presenting innovative methodologies, including experimental work, the book reveals key mechanisms behind language change and its interaction with formal and non-formal factors. Designed for researchers and advanced students in linguistics and philology, this volume addresses fundamental questions about the causes, timing, and principles driving linguistic change. It also sheds light on how historical insights can deepen our understanding of synchronic phenomena, offering a fresh perspective on the dynamics of language evolution.

In memory of Remus Gergel (1974-2026), a groundbreaking linguist in the study of formal diachronic semantics, who will be missed as a scholar and as a friend.