Language change under different approaches

Resumo

Depending on the point of view, changes can have small or large consequences on a system. Regarding human language, we see this kind of relativism in a claim made by linguist David Lightfoot: a language change can be considered abrupt if we focus on internal properties of language or gradual if we focus on external ones. Two well documented cases of language change, usually described as transitions from null to overt pronominal subjects in Old French and in modern Brazilian Portuguese, are used as empirical analyses for our evaluation of Lightfoot’s claim.