Distributed Morphology and the Evolution of the Indo-European Case System

In this thesis, I examine the nominal morphology of Proto-Indo-European, Attic Greek, and Hittite in the theoretical framework of Distributed Morphology (DM), a recent theory which departs from traditional conceptions of morphology in a number of ways. In the first three chapters, we will address these three languages one at a time, showing that DM gives us new insight into the synchronic system of these languages and certain dialectal and diachronic shifts within them. I show that DM provides a simple account of the morphological systems we encounter and their interrelationship. In particular, the close relationship between these languages is reflected in their synchronic systems, but they diverge in important respects as well, and I attempt to account for these facts and how they relate to the theory. Certain theoretical issues which bear on the analysis are investigated as well, in particular the scope of impoverishment and the place of extrinsic ordering in morphology. In chapter 4, we take a closer look at the predictions of DM for morphological change and possible descriptions of diachrony from within the theory, taking examples from the internal histories described in chapters 1-3 as well as the development of Greek and Hittite from Proto-Indo-European. In particular, DM accounts for case syncretism with the devices of impoverishment and underspecification, each of which makes certain predictions about diachronic stability of morphological systems and the kinds of change which should occur. I show that these predictions are borne out to a large degree. Finally, I give a quick overview of a few interactions between the formal system and the