Abstract
Two principles shaping agreement paradigms have been implicitly assumedto constitute diachronic universals: (i)ergativity is assumed to bemore likely to develop or be maintained in third than in non-third person; (ii) zeros are assumed to develop and be preserved more commonly in third than in non-third person. Estimating probabilities of diachronic change in a worldwide database and controling for areal diffusion effects, we find no evidence for (i). Principle (ii) receives no support either when examining how paradigms develop as systems, but we observe a weak cross-paradigm effect which is likely to be caused by frequency patterns during grammaticalization.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Agreement from a Diachronic Perspective |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH |
| Pages | 29-51 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Volume | 287 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9783110399967 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9783110373349 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 16 Jun 2015 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Arts and Humanities
- General Social Sciences