[Lingtyp] Emergence of word-class systems

[John Mansfield]

Thanks already for some very useful reading recommendations on this (some
via DM).

Since posting the question, I've been reminded of the extent to which word
classes are inextricable from phrase structure (and morphology). So
arguably the question could be reframed as where does morphosyntax come
from.  I have already been recommended to read Hurford (2012) and Heine &
Kuteva (2007) on this, but I'd be interested to have any other
recommendations for plausible speculations about the emergence of grammar.

On Sun, 2 Apr 2023 at 08:57, John Mansfield <jbmansfield at gmail.com> wrote:

> Can anyone point me at literature speculating on how word-class systems
> may have emerged in human language? That is to say, if we assume that there
> are or were (proto-)languages without a clear word-class system, then how
> might one develop?
>
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