The Rise of Agreement

A formal approach to the syntax and grammaticalization of verbal inflection

Eric Fuß | Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027228055 | EUR 145.00 | USD 218.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027294142 | EUR 145.00 | USD 218.00

This book investigates the historical paths leading from pronouns to markers of verbal agreement and proposes a unified formal account of this grammaticalization process. In opposition to beliefs widely held in the literature, it is argued that new agreement formatives can be coined in a multitude of syntactic environments. Still, the individual paths toward agreement are shown to exhibit a set of underlying similarities which are attributed to universal principles that govern the reanalysis of pronominal clitics as exponents of verbal agreement across languages. It is claimed that syntactic principles impose only a set of necessary conditions on the reanalysis in question, while its ultimate trigger is morphological in nature. More specifically, it is argued that the acquisition of inflectional morphology is governed by blocking effects which operate during language acquisition and promote the grammaticalization of new markers if this change serves to replace ‘worn-out’, underspecified forms with new, more specified candidates.

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 81] 2005. xii, 336 pp.

Publishing status:

https://doi.org/10.1075/la.81

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements | pp. ix–x

Notes for the reader and list of abbreviations | p. xi

Introduction | pp. 1–21

Theoretical preliminaries | pp. 23–53

The structural design of agreement | pp. 55–128

The transition from pronoun to inflectional marker | pp. 129–155

The reanalysis of C-oriented clitics | pp. 157–228

Morphological blocking and the rise of agreement | pp. 229–297

Concluding summary | pp. 299–304

Index | pp. 325–335

“This is the first empirically detailed, theoretically informed study of the historical development of agreement marking in the context of a generative approach to syntactic change. As such it represents a major contribution to the field, and deserves a very wide readership.”

Ian Roberts, University of Cambridge

Cited by (76)

Cited by 76 other publications

Order by:

Paoli, Sandra

2024. Gradualness of Grammaticalization and Abrupt Change Reconciled: Evidence from Microvariation in Romance. Languages 9:4 ► pp. 138 ff.

Ashby, William J.

2023. The drift of French syntax. In On Spoken French [Studies in Language Companion Series, 226], ► pp. 181 ff.

Fonseca-Greber, Bonnie B.

2023. William J. Ashby – A pioneer in diachronic Spoken French corpus linguistics. In On Spoken French [Studies in Language Companion Series, 226], ► pp. 1 ff.

Auger, Julie

2022. Chapter 1. Picard subject clitics. In Points of Convergence in Romance Linguistics [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 360], ► pp. 12 ff.

Jarrah, Marwan, Rasheed Al-Jarrah & Ekab Al-Shawashreh

2022. No case tampering once transfer domain is formed!. The Linguistic Review 39:2 ► pp. 203 ff.

Samo, Giuseppe

2022. Criterial V2: ModP as a Locus of Microvariation in Swiss Romansh Varieties. Probus 34:1 ► pp. 143 ff.

Zingler, Tim

2022. Circumfixation: A semasiological approach. Word Structure 15:1 ► pp. 55 ff.

Zingler, Tim

2023. A functional approach to the formal mismatches of indexation markers. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 42:2 ► pp. 373 ff.

Seržant, Ilja A.

2021. Cyclic changes in verbal person-number indexes are unlikely. Folia Linguistica 55:s42-s1 ► pp. 49 ff.

Bousquette, Joshua & Michael T. Putnam

2020. Redefining Language Death: Evidence From Moribund Grammars. Language Learning 70:S1 ► pp. 188 ff.

Haig, Geoffrey L.J.

2020. Chapter 5. The pronoun-to-agreement cycle in Iranian. In Advances in Iranian Linguistics [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 351], ► pp. 85 ff.

Schnell, Stefan & Danielle Barth

2020. Expression of anaphoric subjects in Vera'a: Functional and structural factors in the choice between pronoun and zero. Language Variation and Change 32:3 ► pp. 267 ff.

Fertig, David

2019. Morphological Change Through Phonological Analogy: 2nd Person Singular -s→ -stand Related Developments in Germanic. Journal of Germanic Linguistics 31:1 ► pp. 1 ff.

JARRAH, MARWAN

2019. Record your Agree: A case study of the Arabic complementizerʔinn. Journal of Linguistics 55:1 ► pp. 83 ff.

Jarrah, Marwan

2020. Complementizer Agreement and the T0‐Φ Parameter in Jordanian Arabic. Studia Linguistica 74:1 ► pp. 139 ff.

Jarrah, Marwan

2023. Morphological case, ɸ-agreement, and overt movement interactions in Arabic grammar. In Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXIV [Studies in Arabic Linguistics, 12], ► pp. 105 ff.

Klævik-Pettersen, Espen

2019. What is Germanic and what is not about Old French V2. Linguistic Variation 19:1 ► pp. 141 ff.

Kuteva, Tania, Bernd Heine, Bo Hong, Haiping Long, Heiko Narrog & Seongha Rhee

2019. World Lexicon of Grammaticalization,

Wolfe, Sam

2019. Redefining the typology of V2 languages. Linguistic Variation 19:1 ► pp. 16 ff.

Arregi, Karlos & Andrew Nevins

2018. Beware Occam’s Syntactic Razor: Morphotactic Analysis and Spanish Mesoclisis. Linguistic Inquiry 49:4 ► pp. 625 ff.

Duarte, Inês

2018. Comments on complementation in Portuguese. In Complement Clauses in Portuguese [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 17], ► pp. 241 ff.

Haig, Geoffrey

2018. The grammaticalization of object pronouns: Why differential object indexing is an attractor state. Linguistics 56:4 ► pp. 781 ff.

Haig, Geoffrey & Diana Forker

2018. Agreement in grammar and discourse: A research overview. Linguistics 56:4 ► pp. 715 ff.

Schnell, Stefan

2018. Whence subject-verb agreement? Investigating the role of topicality, accessibility, and frequency in Vera’a texts. Linguistics 56:4 ► pp. 735 ff.

van Gelderen, Elly

2018. Problems of Projection: The Role of Language Change in Labeling Paradoxes. Studia Linguistica 72:1 ► pp. 113 ff.

van Gerven Oei, Vincent W.J.

2018. Subject Clitics: New Evidence from Old Nubian. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 3:1

Alqassas, Ahmad

2017. Gender and number polarity in Modern Standard Arabic numeral phrases. Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 62:1 ► pp. 1 ff.

Steels, Luc & Katrien Beuls

2017. How to Explain the Origins of Complexity in Language: A Case Study for Agreement Systems. In Complexity in Language, ► pp. 30 ff.

Barriere, Isabelle, Géraldine Legendre, Blandine Joseph, Sarah Kresh, Prince Fleurio Guetjen, Thierry Nazzi, F. Neveu, G. Bergounioux, M.-H. Côté, J.-M. Fournier, L. Hriba & S. Prévost

2016. Le statut linguistique des pronoms du créole haïtien et du français : une étude de corpus. SHS Web of Conferences 27 ► pp. 14006 ff.

Farasyn, Melissa & Anne Breitbarth

2016. Nullsubjekte im Mittelniederdeutschen. Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 138:4 ► pp. 524 ff.

Günhan, N. Evra

2016. Verbal functional categories in the speech of a Turkish speaking child with autism. In The Acquisition of Turkish in Childhood [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 20], ► pp. 341 ff.

van Rijn, Marlou

2016. The grammaticalization of possessive person marking: a typological approach. Transactions of the Philological Society 114:2 ► pp. 233 ff.

Weiß, Helmut

2015. When the subject follows the object. On a curiosity in the syntax of personal pronouns in some German dialects. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 18:1 ► pp. 65 ff.

Bayer, Josef

2014. Syntactic and phonological properties of wh-operators and wh-movement in Bavarian. In Bavarian Syntax [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 220], ► pp. 23 ff.

Stark, Elisabeth

2014. Réanalyses dans la graphie : ‘l'écrit spontané' dans les SMS et le statut des pronoms clitiques du français contemporain. Langages N° 196:4 ► pp. 131 ff.

STARK, ELISABETH, CHARLOTTE MEISNER & HARALD VÖLKER

2014. Introduction to the special issue: ‘Negation and Clitics in French: Interaction and Variation’. Journal of French Language Studies 24:1 ► pp. 1 ff.

Wratil, Melani

2014. The rise and fall of double agreement. In Bavarian Syntax [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 220], ► pp. 83 ff.

Ackema, Peter & Ad Neeleman

2013. Person features and syncretism. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 31:4 ► pp. 901 ff.

Beuls, Katrien, Luc Steels & Ricard V. Solé

2013. Agent-Based Models of Strategies for the Emergence and Evolution of Grammatical Agreement. PLoS ONE 8:3 ► pp. e58960 ff.

Bohnacker, Ute

2013. Null Subjects in Swabian. Studia Linguistica 67:3 ► pp. 257 ff.

Cruschina, Silvio & Melanie Rinollo

2013. Between Subject Enclitic and Agreement Marker: The Second Person Endings in Sicilian. Transactions of the Philological Society 111:3 ► pp. 259 ff.

Diercks, Michael

2013. Indirect agree in Lubukusu complementizer agreement. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 31:2 ► pp. 357 ff.

Lavidas, Nikolaos

2013. Null and cognate objects and changes in (in)transitivity. Acta Linguistica Hungarica 60:1 ► pp. 69 ff.

ACUÑA-FARIÑA, JUAN CARLOS

2012. Agreement, attraction and architectural opportunism. Journal of Linguistics 48:2 ► pp. 257 ff.

van Koppen, Marjo

2012. The distribution of phi-features in pronouns. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 30:1 ► pp. 135 ff.

van Koppen, Marjo

2017. Complementizer Agreement. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Second Edition, ► pp. 1 ff.

van Koppen, Marjo

2020. Complementizer Agreement. In The Cambridge Handbook of Germanic Linguistics, ► pp. 313 ff.

Nevins, Andrew

2011. Multiple agree with clitics: person complementarity vs. omnivorous number. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 29:4 ► pp. 939 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Reconstructing Language History. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 39 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Natural Processes. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 171 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Denaturalized Phonetic Processes. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 221 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Building on the Tradition. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 64 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Analogy and Systematic Repair. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 97 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. How Language Change is Investigated. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 12 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Introduction. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 1 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Tempo and Mora in Phonological Change. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 238 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Inverted Operations. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 205 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Vowel Shifts and the Middle English Vowels. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 270 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Motivations of Language Change. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 123 ff.

Miller, D. Gary

2010. Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I,

NISHIYAMA, KUNIO

2010. INTRODUCTION: FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES, DIRECTIONALITY, AND GRADUALNESS IN SYNTACTIC CHANGE. ENGLISH LINGUISTICS 27:2 ► pp. 364 ff.

Rezac, Milan

2010. Modularity, Phi-Features, and Repairs. In Phi-features and the Modular Architecture of Language [Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 81], ► pp. 1 ff.

Rezac, Milan

2010. Phi in Syntax and Phi Interpretation. In Phi-features and the Modular Architecture of Language [Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 81], ► pp. 279 ff.

Rosenkvist, Henrik

2010. Null Referential Subjects in Övdalian. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 33:3 ► pp. 231 ff.

Fuß, Eric

2007. Elly van Gelderen, Grammaticalization as Economy Amsterdam: John Benjamins (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 71), 2004, pp. xvi, 320. ISBN 90 272 2795 0. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 10:1

Fuß, Eric

2014. Complementizer agreement (in Bavarian). In Bavarian Syntax [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 220], ► pp. 51 ff.

Willis, David

2007. Specifier‐to‐head reanalyses in the complementizer domain: evidence from Welsh. Transactions of the Philological Society 105:3 ► pp. 432 ff.

[no author supplied]

2010. Bibliographical Abbreviations. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. xxix ff.

[no author supplied]

2010. Dating and Other Conventions. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. xv ff.

[no author supplied]

2010. Primary Sources: Texts and Editions. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 293 ff.

[no author supplied]

2010. Copyright Page. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. iv ff.

[no author supplied]

2010. Abbreviations. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. xvii ff.

[no author supplied]

2010. Special Phonetic Symbols. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. 288 ff.

[no author supplied]

2010. Preface. In Language Change and Linguistic Theory, Volume I, ► pp. xii ff.

[no author supplied]

2019. A Criterial Approach to the Cartography of V2 [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 257],

[no author supplied]

2020. Past Participle Agreement [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 265],

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Subjects