This book shows how the generative approach to linguistics may be used to understand how languages change. Ian Roberts explains how generative theory can throw light on central questions in historical linguistics, including word-order change, grammaticalization, and reanalysis. He examines the links between syntactic change and first-language acquisition and considers the effects of language contact. He provides numerous examples from a range of different languages,guides to further reading, and a comprehensive glossary. This is the ideal textbook introduction for students of syntactic change.

Ian Roberts is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. He obtained his PhD at the University of Southern California in 1985. He has held chairs at the University of Wales, Bangor, and at the University of Stuttgart. His books include The Representation of Implicit and Dethematized Subjects (FORIS, 1987), Verbs and Diachronic Syntax (Kluwer, 1993), Comparative Syntax (Edward Arnold, 1996), Syntactic Change (CUP, 2003, with Anna Roussou), and Principles and Parameters in a VSO Language: A Case Study in Welsh (OUP, 2005).