diachronic development of grammatical relations

[Frederick J Newmeyer]

Dear Funknetters,

I wonder if someone could help me out with a literature reference. I'm looking for a book, article, or handbook chapter that discusses the diachronic development of grammatical relations (subject, object, etc.). That is, how they originate, develop, and change over time and, in certain cases (e.g. Acehnese), they are lost. For example, is there a discussion somewhere of the factors that might lead a language to grammaticalize a subject position or a subject marker or (I assume more rarely) to degrammaticalize a subject position or marker?

Thanks!

--fritz


Frederick J. Newmeyer
Professor Emeritus, University of Washington
Adjunct Professor, U of British Columbia and Simon Fraser U
[for my postal address, please contact me by e-mail]