This paper studies exaptation from the perspective of language contact and structural borrowing. Drawing on data from different language-contact settings, I show that exaptation differs from grammaticalization, secondary grammaticalization, and degrammaticalization. I argue that exaptation is, also… read more
We demonstrate that Old Italian had a three-gender system within which the neuter still qualified as a fully fledged gender value. To substantiate this claim, we adduce evidence showing that (a) Old Italian had three distinct sets of controllers, each of which selected a separate agreement… read more