Author: Vincent, Nigel Date: Dec 09 1999 Title: Competition and correspondence in syntactic change: null arguments in Latin and Romance Email: nigel.vincent@man.ac.uk Remarks: Paper presented at Diachronic Generative Syntax Conference (DIGS) 5, York June 1, 1998. To appear in 'Diachronic Syntax: Models and Mechanisms', eds A. Warner, S. Pintzuk, G. Tsoulas, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Abstract: This paper seeks to apply Joan Bresnan's account of pronouns in the diachronic domain, and thus to provide a study of LFG?OT as applied to syntactic change. The data are drawn from the history of the Romance languages and concern a) the loss of null objects and their replacement by clitics, and b) the development of inflected infinitives.