Encoding spatial relations: language typology and diachronic change in Greek*

While motion verbs in some languages display selectional restrictions for their spatial complements, motion verbs in other languages freely combine with any type of spatial complement. In the course of Greek history, two inter-related typological transitions take place: In Classical Greek, selectional restrictions emerge in the subcategorization frames of motion verbs as a result of reanalysis; in Post-Classical Greek, prepositions, cases, and adverbs abandon the distinction between static and dynamic spatial relations.