This book deals with some of the major theoretical and descriptive concerns of the historical linguist. The author presents a variationist analysis of weak object pronoun placement in Greek during a transitional period of the language when these elements exhibited both clitic-like and affix-like behaviour. The statistical analysis of the data, providing the first accurate description of the pattern of variation, is used in showing that existing accounts fall short of a full explanation. An alternative approach forces re-evaluation of the role of generalizations in linguistic explanation.

'...likely to remain the standard reference work on the subject for the foreseeable future...meticulously documented and researched...[its] scholarship [is] always displayed selectively and appropriately. The comparative sections are highly illuminating for those interested in clitics from a more general perspective. Undeniably a major scholarly contribution to its field.' - Professor Geoffrey Horrocks, St John's College, Cambridge

Autorentext
PANAYIOTIS A. PAPPAS is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. His research interests include variation and language change, diachronic syntax and morphology, sociolinguistics and Greek linguistics.

Inhalt
List of Figures List of Tables Preface List of Abbreviations Introduction Methodology Data Analysis Linguistic Parameters Non-linguistic Parameters Previous Proposals A Diachronic Perspective Theoretical Implications Appendix Notes References Index