This book of new work by leading international scholars considers developments in the study of diachronic linguistics and linguistic theory, including those concerned with the very definition of language change in the biolinguistic framework, parametric change in a minimalist conception of grammar, the tension between the observed gradual nature of language change and the binary nature of parameters, and whether syntactic change can be triggered internally or requires the external stimuli produced by phonological or morphological change or through language contact. It then tests their value and applicability by examining syntactic change at different times and in a wide range of languages, including German, Chinese, Dutch, Sanskrit, Egyptian, Norwegian, old Italian, Portuguese, English, the Benue-Kwa languages of Niger-Congo, Catalan, Spanish, and old French. The book is divided into three parts devoted to (i) theoretical issues in historical syntax; (ii) external (such as contact and interference) and internal (grammatical) sources of morphosynactic change; and (iii) parameter setting and reanalysis.

Alessandra Giorgi and Giuseppe Longobardi's important 1991 study of the argument structure of lexical projections, in particular of noun phrases, makes substantial advances in this relatively neglected area. Working within a Government and Binding framework, the authors present strong arguments in favour of the existence of empty categories, and evidence for the correct understanding of word order parameters and of Chomsky's Projection Principle. In particular, they elaborate and discuss a number of tests intended to define under which lexical and syntactic conditions an empty pronominal subject may or must occur in a Noun Phrase. The levels of structural attachment of the arguments of a head Noun are carefully established by supporting assumptions made in this domain with independent evidence. As well as its theoretical advances, this book provides a descriptive analysis of nominal structure in Romance, and compares it with corresponding structure in Germanic languages. It offers a valuable introduction to Italian phrase structure.

Alessandra Giorgi and Giuseppe Longobardi's important 1991 study of the argument structure of lexical projections, in particular of noun phrases, makes substantial advances in this relatively neglected area. Working within a Government and Binding framework, the authors present strong arguments in favour of the existence of empty categories, and evidence for the correct understanding of word order parameters and of Chomsky's Projection Principle. In particular, they elaborate and discuss a number of tests intended to define under which lexical and syntactic conditions an empty pronominal subject may or must occur in a Noun Phrase. The levels of structural attachment of the arguments of a head Noun are carefully established by supporting assumptions made in this domain with independent evidence. As well as its theoretical advances, this book provides a descriptive analysis of nominal structure in Romance, and compares it with corresponding structure in Germanic languages. It offers a valuable introduction to Italian phrase structure.