Introduction: the development of manner expressions into complementizers or quotatives

Abstract Through intriguing paths of change, manner expressions may give rise to both quotatives and a diverse range of complementizers. These paths of change are still far from mapped or fully understood, but after years of relative ignorance, they have recently been the subject of increased interest. In this paper, we introduce a special issue the aim of which is to add to the growing knowledge and understanding of the development of manner expressions into complementizers or quotatives. Centering our discussion on Saxena’s diachronic hypothesis from 1995, we first briefly go through a number of central studies of the issue. Subsequently, we summarize the main findings of the contributions to the special issue: (i) additional evidence of the development of manner expressions into complementizers or quotatives; (ii) an emphasis on the variation found in examples of this development; (iii) a number of developmental paths that do not conform to Saxena’s hypothesis (but also a couple that might be compatible with it). In the final part of the paper, we introduce each of the individual contributions to the special issue.