Ontogenetyczny i filogenetyczny wymiar zmian językowych w zakresie gramatyki

This paper discusses selected aspects of the theory of linguistic change in grammar. The main assumption is the claim that the development of the categorial functions of natural languages throughout the time (phylogenesis) mostly coincides with the stadiums of the acquisition of the same categories by an individual (ontogenesis). Using the examples of the development and acquisition of strong and weak verb forms in Germanic languages and the categorial links between aspectuality, temporality and modality of the verb, different stages that characterise the linguistic changes in question are analysed in comparison with the stages of their acquisition in the process of language acquisition among children between 2 and 14 years of age. The analysis proves that the connections between ontogenesis and phylogenesis are complex, so they cannot be always explained in a simple and definite manner. The change in either sphere has its own specific features and runs mutatis mutandis in both spheres.