A formal approach to "grammaticalization"

This paper presents an approach to the well-known diachronic phenomenon of grammaticalization in terms of a modified version of Chomsky's (1995. chapt er 4) minimalist approach to syntax, combined with the general approach to language change outlined in Clark and Roberts (1993). The central idea that we follow is that grammaticalization involves the reanalysis of lexical ma terial as functional material. We argue that the reason this kind of change is so common is that the reanalysis involves structural simplification, a kind of change that is preferred by the parameter-setting device, according to Clark and Roberts (1993). A number of well-known cases of grammaticaliz ation are discussed the development of English modal auxiliaries, the devel opment of agreement markers from pronouns, the development of negation and N-words, and the development of wh-pronouns. In the last two cases a differ ent kind of simplification is involved the lexical subset principle, which requires lexical items to be interpreted in the smallest set of contexts co nsistent with the input. Both the lexical subset principle and the tendency toward structural simplification stem from the same property of computatio nal conservativity that characterizes the parameter-setting device.