'A rigorous and lucidly-written application of quantitative corpus linguistics to language change from the perspective of Construction Grammar, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in historical linguistics.' Stefan Th. Gries, University of California, Santa Barbara
'Hilpert's scholarly, engaging monograph is essential reading for those working in historical and cognitive linguistics. The compelling arguments and the quantitative methodology adopted establish new directions for related research.' Graeme Trousdale, University of Edinburgh
'Hilpert's study is a milestone in the historical linguistics of English. Maintaining due respect for the philological tradition, the author breaks new ground in methodology, through the application of sophisticated corpus-statistical tools (some of them developed by himself), and in theory, through demonstrating how construction grammar helps us understand diachronic processes.' Christian Mair, University of Freiburg
'In this stimulating book, Hilpert combines the theoretical approach of Construction Grammar with sophisticated corpus methodology to investigate the processes of language change … The book will provide thought-provoking reading for scholars and advanced students concerned with language variation and change, constructional approaches to language, and corpus methodology.' Jill Bowie, English Language and Linguistics