Diachronica - Volume 43, Issue 2, 2026

Abstract

By the late Middle Ages, a part of South Slavic, including Macedonian and Bulgarian, had lost nominal case inflection, leading to the disappearance of the old Slavic differential object marking (DOM) system. In the 19th century, some southern Macedonian dialects developed a new DOM system based on the preposition na ‘on, to’. This study explores the evolution of this DOM system by comparing Southern Macedonian texts from two periods — the mid-19th century and mid-20th century. The main factors conditioning DOM include animacy (humanness), definiteness, and the lexical class of the verb. We observe a general increase in the na-marking and a shift from optionality toward automatization. In early texts, the na-marking sporadically occurs with pronouns and definite human-referring nouns. In later texts, pronouns and human proper names are almost always marked, whereas marking of definite human-referring common nouns remains optional, albeit with increasing frequency over time. We also report negative evidence for other factors frequently mentioned in typological works on DOM, such as the disambiguating function of case within the global discourse context. Notably, this factor does not emerge as significant in Macedonian.

Abstract

This article investigates the effectiveness of sigmoid trajectories (S-curves) for statistically modelling language change. In diachronic linguistics, it is customary to fit a sigmoid regression line through data, on the assumption that such a curve fits the ideal language change. A coefficient with an associated p-value significantly different from zero is taken as evidence for the presence of a change. Here, we take the inverse perspective: given a known change, how well can the S-curve predict the actual data? We look at 15 well-known changes in Late Modern Dutch, in a genre-balanced corpus. For each change we built four different models: one model based on all the data and three partly blinded models, where either the beginning, middle or end of the S-curve is omitted. We check how well the S-curve can predict or reconstruct the unknown data, i.e. the blinded parts of the S-curve. We investigate in which cases (the type of change, the part of the data that is omitted, etc.) it is easier or harder to reconstruct the missing data.

Abstract

The study of language change in American Sign Language (ASL) has been constrained by a limited historical record. Here we present five case studies that demonstrate how applying a broad set of historical methods, together with the consultation of underutilized sources of sign data, can shed new light on ASL in the 19th century. These case studies cover aspects of two subsystems of ASL, (i) the fingerspelling alphabet and (ii) the numeral system, as well as (iii) the etymologies of selected initialized signs, (iv) the innovation of superordinate terms, and (v) phonological variation in the mano cornuta, or horns, handshape. We argue that these case studies reveal two broad drivers of change in the history of ASL. Bottom-up changes, often driven by biomechanical or perceptual factors, originated within the ASL signing community, likely without signers’ conscious awareness. Top-down, or prescriptive, changes were effective in the early years of ASL, when the signing community was small and still tightly linked to schools for the deaf where these changes were instituted and where they first spread.

Abstract

We examine tonal and non-tonal features involved in the diachronic emergence of a future tense category in Emai, an Edoid language of southern Nigeria. The extant tense system in Emai incorporates values for both temporal distance and the temporal units past, present, and future. We concentrate on linguistic coding of the future and its associated expressions. Initially, we review the set of markers for futurity in the West Benue Congo branch of Benue Congo, including the Edoid languages. Forms in neither align with Emai future coding, which is conveyed by tonal and segmental co-exponents. The Emai future pattern is consistent with the coding of present tense, although not past, which relies exclusively on tone. Moreover, the future does not exhibit tonal polarity reflective of temporal distance (proximal/distal); its proximal form does not correlate with a distinct temporal adverb; and the negative future, unlike past and present, corresponds to temporal interpretations that neutralize temporal distance rather than tense. To account for these restrictions, we propose that future is a relatively recent addition to the tense profile in Emai and that its segmental exponent emerged from contact-induced grammaticalization realized under multi-generational and asymmetrical bilingualism with Yoruba. Under this circumstance a combination of grammaticalization and tonal reanalysis allowed Emai future lɔ́ with high tone to emerge from Yoruba deictic motion verb lɔ ‘go, move away from deictic center’ with mid tone.

This article reviews Keys to the History of English: Diachronic Linguistic Change, Morpho-syntax and Lexicography