Every linguistic theory has to come to grips with a fundamental property of human language: the existence of exceptions, i.e. phenomena that do not follow the standard patterns one observes otherwise. The contributions to this volume discuss and exemplify a variety of approaches to exceptionality within different formal and non-formal frameworks. Topics include criteria for exceptionality, the diachronic rise of exceptions, the relevance of different grammatical subsystems and their interaction in the explanation of exceptions, and the crucial characteristics of grammatical models that can accommodate exceptions. A special feature of the book is that the articles are accompanied by peer-commentaries and responses thereupon, thus opening up the papers to further discussion.

The contributions to this volume address the model of diachronic language comparison that has emerged from the field of contrastive linguistics. The volume's aim is to use language comparison to derive principles of language change that allow for generalizations that go beyond single languages. Indeed, the phenomenon of change observed in a particular language is thrown into sharper relief when compared to comparable developments in other languages. Such a comparison also facilitates the identification of change that is highly specific to a single language. The articles in the volume illustrate the relevance of these concepts for phonological, morphological, and syntactic changes.

Arguing against a broad typological and comparative background, the author provides evidence suggesting that in German there exists a grammatical category 'respect' as an expression of grammaticalized politeness. To bear this out, the study traces the diachrony of polite German forms of address from the earliest stages up to the present and the associated tensions between pragmatics and grammar. Analyses of the morphology and syntax of pronouns and verbs in present-day standard German and in Bavarian dialect point up the differences between Sie (2nd person honorific) and sie (3rd person plural).