A major argument against the feasibility of reconstructing syntax for proto-stages is the widely discussed lack of directionality of syntactic change. In a recent typology of changes in argument structure constructions based on Germanic (Barðdal 2015), several different, yet opposing, changes are reported. These include, among others, processes sometimes called dative sickness, nominative sickness, and accusative sickness. In order to tease apart the roles of the different processes, we have carried out a phylogenetic trait analysis on a predefined data set of twelve predicates found across the Germanic phyla using the MULTISTATE method. This is, as far as we are aware, the first application of the MULTISTATE method (Pagel et al. 2004) in historical syntax. The results clearly favor one of the models, the dative sickness model, over any other model, as this model is the only one that can accurately account for both the observed diversity of case frames and the independently proposed philological reconstructions. Methods of evolutionary trait analysis can be used to model evolutionary paths of argument structure constructions, and they provide the perfect testing ground for hypotheses arrived at through philological reconstruction, based on classical historical-comparative methods.*
An interesting fact about Old Saxon is that certain verbs of motion can occur with a dative pronoun which shows certain properties often considered to be indicative of subject status, making these verbs part of the dative subject construction. The dative marked argument is always animate and usually human. Punctuality and telicity are also often overtly marked in the clause. The dative occurs with verbs of motion in Old Saxon when the participant is salient in the discourse. In some instances, a nominative subject earlier in the discourse can trigger verb agreement, but very often a nominative simply is not present. Additionally, the dative pronoun is in subject position next to the finite verb. Thus the dative with verbs of motion exhibits the subject properties of linear subject position, topicality, animacy, definiteness and discourse salience. Semantic subject properties include volitionality, initiation of action, telicity and punctuality. Our analysis concludes that the dative argument with verbs of motion is related, but not identical, to other non-nominative subjects attested in Old Saxon.
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