Auxiliation : an enquiry into the nature of grammaticalization
Abstract
Most advanced countries use progressive income tax as an important element of their tax and welfare systems: for a long time it has been widely accepted as one of the central features of modern capitalism. The issue of whether progressive income tax is desirable has again in recent years become the subject of lively debate in many countries. Strong statements have been made about the-negative incentive effects of high marginal tax rates, and many tax reform proposals have been based on the premiss that marginal tax rates at upper income levels are too high. It is clear that every argument about changes in the income tax schedule is to some extent an argument about the principle of progression itself.
... Another well-known case in European languages is the grammaticalization of posture verbs into continuative/durative/progressive aspect markers in pseudocoordination constructions in several North Germanic languages such as Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish (Kuteva 1999, 2001Ross & Lødrup 2017). As discussed in Kuteva (2001: 45), in these constructions, "in most cases, the verbs 'sit'/'stand'/'lie' are employed according to the bodily position of the subject". ...
... The meaning of the fifth, 'hang', is more about absence of contact with the surface of the ground than about any specific body configuration. The presence of a 'hanging' term in the set of basic posture verbs (and in the set of AP imperfective circumfixes) is a fact of typological interest rarely reported in the grammaticalization literature (for instance, "hanging" verbs are not mentioned in Kuteva 1999Kuteva , 2001Heine & Kuteva 2002;Newman 2002b). From a regional perspective, however, it is a well documented phenomenon in languages from Amazonia and neighboring lowland regions of Latin America (Grinevald 2006). ...
... 3SG.GEN garden=LOC man=ERG corn EVP-lie stand.TR-3A-TDM-PST 'In his garden, the man raised up the corn plants that were lying.' (Ottaviano & Ottaviano 1989: 86) The fact that the intransitive posture verbs feature a fairly wide range of meanings and uses, and can be employed in particular as stative locative or existential predicates, is compatible with their involvement in grammaticalization processes. These types of predicates are widely attested sources of progressive markers, which can in turn be further generalized into imperfective markers (Bybee et al. 1994: Ch. 5;Kuteva 1999Kuteva , 2001: 30-36 among others). In addition, the fact that ani 'sit' can be used as a locative or existential predicate unspecified for posture is consistent with its grammaticalization into a default imperfective marker unspecified for posture. ...
This paper is the first detailed description of the exceptionally rich subsystem of verbal inflections that express imperfective aspect in Tacana, an endangered and underdescribed language from the Takanan family. The unusually high degree of elaboration of this system, which includes nine members in paradigmatic opposition, is achieved by co-expressing imperfective aspect with spatial meanings taken from two distinct categories: associated motion (with five values: ‘going’, ‘coming’, ‘going back’, ‘coming back’, ‘wandering’) and what I will call “associated posture” (with three values: ‘standing’, ‘lying/bending’, ‘hanging’). The ninth member is a default imperfective marker that does not carry any spatial meaning. The paper challenges linguistic theories that consider grammatical(izable) concepts as belonging to a strictly limited range of notional domains from which motion and posture are excluded. Additionally, the paper provides strong support for a new comparative concept of “associated posture” in linguistics.
... 3 However, there seems to be room for the (panchronic) "third way" in (ii), but it is more of a shared commonality rather than an independent entity on its own. 3 For one of the latest illustrations of how successful one can be in relating the past and the present of any language without invoking panchrony as an independent research tool, see Kiełtyka (2023). Moreover, still on the grounds of grammaticalization, Kuteva (2001) is far less equivocal about how to understand panchrony. She advocates the panchronic approach as "both synchronic and diachronic" (p. ...
... When Kuteva (2001) says that "the panchronic approach is not confined to a synchronic static perspective (…), with the diachronic parameter no less important than the synchronic" (p. 7), in practice she means nothing more than to appreciate the diachronic resources "as an explanatory tool in the many seemingly mysterious cases" (p. ...
... Unlike Heine et al. (1991) or Kuteva (2001), however, Mithun can do without naming what she proclaims with any special name or under any special rubric, let alone that of panchrony. ...
The notion of panchrony is discussed in the context of the on-going polarization between structurally- and functionally-oriented linguistic paradigms. The two radically divergent conceptions of panchrony are thus surveyed, as envisaged by, respectively, Saussure and cognitive linguistics. As panchrony is not as yet a widely accepted research paradigm, it is suggested that while functionalists seem to be still in search of an appropriate understanding of panchrony, some lesson as to what functionally-driven panchrony should be can be derived from a critical reading of Saussure’s original proposal. It is concluded that as long as cognitive linguists hold that language is symbolic and interactive, panchrony must be attempted not in terms of linguistic universals, as for Saussure, but in terms of functional universals, such as cognitive and experiential patterns of behaviour.
... a number of studies conducted on the behavior of posture verbs in various (un)related languages have shown that posture verbs have developed a range of different figurative meanings. The studies have also shown that in some languages posture verbs have developed some grammatical functions such as durativity or progressivity (Ebert 2000;Heine & Kuteva 2002;Kuteva 1999Kuteva & 2001lemmens 2002lemmens & perrez 2010;newman 2001, & 2009newman & rice 2004;newman & Yamaguchi 2002). While there exists a rich body of cross-linguistic research on posture verbs, there is relatively little research that has been done on the variations in functions and behavior of posture verbs in the spoken varieties of arabic. ...
... Crosslinguistically, posture verbs often grammaticalize into markers of aspect such as durativity or progressivity (Bybee & Dahl 1989: 57-58;Bybee et al. 1994;Austin 1998;Ebert 2000;Kuteva 2001;Heine & Kuteva 2002;Kuteva 1999Kuteva & 2001. According to Bybee et al. (1994: 129) The majority of progressive forms in our database derive from expressions involving locative elements… The locative notion may be expressed either in the verbal auxiliary employed or in the use of postpositions or prepositions indicating location… The verbal auxiliary may derive from a specific postural verb, such as 'sit', 'stand', or 'lie' or it may express the notion of being in a location without reference to a specific posture but meaning only 'be at', 'stay', or, more specifically, 'live' or 'reside '. 7 What this means is that it is quite common for verbs that carry posture meanings to also be used with grammatical functions. ...
... Crosslinguistically, posture verbs often grammaticalize into markers of aspect such as durativity or progressivity (Bybee & Dahl 1989: 57-58;Bybee et al. 1994;Austin 1998;Ebert 2000;Kuteva 2001;Heine & Kuteva 2002;Kuteva 1999Kuteva & 2001. According to Bybee et al. (1994: 129) The majority of progressive forms in our database derive from expressions involving locative elements… The locative notion may be expressed either in the verbal auxiliary employed or in the use of postpositions or prepositions indicating location… The verbal auxiliary may derive from a specific postural verb, such as 'sit', 'stand', or 'lie' or it may express the notion of being in a location without reference to a specific posture but meaning only 'be at', 'stay', or, more specifically, 'live' or 'reside '. 7 What this means is that it is quite common for verbs that carry posture meanings to also be used with grammatical functions. ...
... 3. The oscillation model of cultural transmission provides two opportunities for the innovation required for the cultural evolution of language to take place: either in the comprehension of a novel internal representation in the light of a given utterance, or in the production of a novel external utterance based on a given internal representation. In comprehension-based approaches (Burling 2005;Smith 2006), innovation occurs through misinterpretation during the inference of meaning for an utterance: because there is a mismatch between the world knowledge of speaker and hearer (Kuteva 2001), the meaning inferred by the hearer may differ slightly from that intended by the speaker, and so the utterance is associated with a novel meaning; it has effectively been reinterpreted by the hearer. In production-based approaches, on the other hand, language use is itself innovative: when producing an utterance, the speaker invites the hearer to interpret it creatively, with a meaning which differs from its conventional meaning (Traugott and Dasher 2005). ...
... Secondly, the memorization of communicative experience establishes further common ground knowledge between the interlocutors, which can be used in future communicative situations as part of the background knowledge against which new ostensive acts are interpreted. This not only allows the metaphor to be more easily interpreted in subsequent communicative episodes, but may eventually allow it to be invoked directly, independently of the context in which it was originally created (Kuteva 2001;Traugott and Dasher 2005) as a convention in its own right. A similar process can also be seen in a series of graphical communication experiments derived from the game 'Pictionary' (Garrod et al. 2007;Fay, Garrod and Roberts 2008;Fay et al. 2010;Garrod et al. 2010;Caldwell and Smith 2012), in which participants must communicate concepts to their partners through drawings. ...
... It is proposed that jooand tóóhave their origins in the movement verbs -ʊja 'come' and -íɪta 'go' respectively, while the prefix koois proposed to have originated from the consecutive prefix ka-. It is further observed that in addition to its deictic use, joohas come to assume a future tense marking function, representing a crosslinguistically well-established path of grammaticalisation from motion verb to temporal marker (Bourdin 2002;Bybee and Dahl 1989;Heine and Kuteva 2002;Kuteva 2001). ...
... Section 2). Crosslinguistically, the development of motion verbs, particularly GO and COME verbs, into tense and aspect markers is common (Bybee et al. 1994;Bybee and Dahl 1989;Heine et al. 1993;Heine and Kuteva 2002;Kuteva 2001;Ultan 1978). GO verbs are common sources for prospective aspect and future tenses (Bybee and Dahl 1989;Emanatian 1992;Heine and Kuteva 2005;Marchese 1986), while the development of COME-type verbs into future tense markers is found in a number of unrelated languages (Heine and Kuteva 2002). ...
The close cross-linguistic relation between the domains of space and time has been well described. The frequent emergence of Tense-Aspect-Mood (TAM) markers from deictic motion verbs in particular, has also been extensively detailed in the literature. This paper focusses on the less well-known link between associated motion, a category of functional morphemes expressing (deictic) motion events, and TAM, in a language contact situation. Specifically, it provides a synchronic and diachronic description of three associated motion prefixes, joo-, tóó-and koo-, found in the Tanzanian Bantu language Rangi, spoken in an area of high linguistic diversity. It proposes that the prefix joo-encodes movement towards a deictic centre, tóó-encodes movement towards a goal which is not the deictic centre, and koo-encodes movement away from a deictic centre. It further contends that while tóó-and koo-have maintained a purely deictic function, joo-has grammaticalised to assume an additional function whereby it encodes future tense, possibly aided by the absence of a dedicated future tense marker in the language. This three-way morphological encoding of spatial relations on the verb form is not a common characteristic of East African Bantu languages. However, this paper proposes that the system in Rangi can be accounted for on the basis of cross-linguistically widely attested pathways of grammatical change. Abstract in KiSwahili-Ikisiri: Lugha mbalimbali zinaonyesha uhusiano wa karibu wa kiisimu katika kuwasilisha dhana za nafasi na wakati. Wanazuoni wengi wameeleza kwamba viambishi vya wakati, njeo na hali vimetokana na vitenzi, hasa vitenzi vya mwendo. Makala hii inachunguza uhusiano uliopo baina ya 'mwendo shirikishi', viambishi tegemezi vya mwendo vinavyohusisha nafasi,
... In addition to the above aspectual characterization, (Kuteva 1998;Kuteva 2001;Kuteva et al. 2019) offered a foundational account of avertives in terms of grammaticalization theory and development paths; a more substantial (though far from sufficient) inventory of lexical sources for avertives can be found in (Heine & Kuteva 2002). Both stressed the importance of the modal (or aspect-modal) dimension of avertives, as one of the best studied, and most common, development pathway leading to this category involves volitional lexical elements or grams, and/or proximative 10 lexical elements or gramscf. ...
... Both stressed the importance of the modal (or aspect-modal) dimension of avertives, as one of the best studied, and most common, development pathway leading to this category involves volitional lexical elements or grams, and/or proximative 10 lexical elements or gramscf. (Kuteva 1998;Kuteva 2001) 11 , who first proposed that volitional grams commonly develop into proximatives, and from there into past counterfactuals, and finally avertives, (14). ...
... To begin our discussion, I would like to have a quick review on how adjectives in Japanese changed their grammatical functions in the history of the language for I believe that incorporating diachronic perspectives is crucial to see how synchronic morphosyntax works (Haspelmath 1992, Kuteva 2001, Narrog 2005 This idea is not new. There are numerous predecessors that include Kawabata (1976), Larson (1988), Krazter (1995, Grimshaw (1990), Diesing (1992), Cinque (1999), Hale and Keyser (2002), Arad (2003), Pylkkänen (2008), Travis (2010), Jelinek (1998), Chomsky (1995, Borer (2005), Marantz (2007Marantz ( , 2013, Ramchand (2008), Harley (2008), Folli and Harley (2007), Alexiadou et al. (2015), Boeckx (2011Boeckx ( , 2014 to just name a few. ...
... Furthermore, one of the most important sources for the extension of Japanese morphosyntax has continuously been the suffixation of various functional items that are grammaticalized lexical entries (Frellesvig 2006, Narrog 2017), but neither -gar nor -ga seems to be independently verifiable as a part of the Japanese lexicon at any given time in the history of the language. Thus, postulating -gar or ga-without diachronic support is ad hoc and could only be pursued at the expense of losing significant intra-and crosslinguistic generalizations (Kuteva 2001). ...
Using deadjectival psych verbs with -garu in Japanese, this study shows that agglutinative complex predicate formation is done by recursive application of Merge to roots and functional heads. This process creates a layered syntactic structure, with each layer providing the computational system with (i) specific semantic features, (ii) arguments, and (iii) phonetic form (PF) exponents at conceptual–intentional (CI)/sensory motor (SM) Interfaces. The whole amalgam of the root and the functional heads is interpreted as a “word” at PF. Following the general architecture of Distributed Morphology, I will show that the morpheme that derives deadjectival verbs -garu is underlyingly -k-ar-u (k-Copula-T), where k is “little” v that originates in the verbal root k-o “come” and ar- is a copula. They are now grammaticalized functional heads that extend adjectival roots. Crucially, this k is homophonous with “little” a, which makes -garu and the adjective-deriving morpheme -karu (k-Copula-T) parallel. k is voiced in -garu due to a structurally conditioned assimilation rule (Embick 2013). This analysis reveals the mechanisms of agglutinative predicate formation in a precise and detailed manner. Similarly, it gives natural solutions to some of the long-standing problems including how adjectives modify N such as utukusii dansaa “beautiful dancer,” which is ambiguous between attributive modification and a relative clause.
... The spread of the HAVE perfects in Europe is likely also contact-induced (Drinka 2017), and is considered one of the defining features of Standard Average European, as it is virtually absent outside Europe (Haspelmath 2021;Drinka 2003). Studies on the grammaticalization of perfects in the languages of the world (Dahl 1985, Bybee & Dahl 1989, Bybee, Perkins & Pagliuca 1994, Kuteva 2004, Lindstedt 2000, Thieroff 2000 show a common grammaticalization chain, whose simplified version is shown in Figure 4. Thus, lexical sources develop into resultatives constructions, which then grammaticalize into perfects. The difference between a resultative and a perfect is a subtle one, as both imply a certain relevance of the result of a past event for the reference time (present). ...
This thesis addresses the question of what common features, visible in synchronic data, characterize the diachronic development of three BE (or quasi-BE) perfects in Lithuanian, Bulgarian, and Barese, and how their grammaticalization cline might differ from that of HAVE perfects. The study is based on data from Facebook comments for Lithuanian and Bulgarian, and from written texts in the Barese vernacular. The thesis includes detailed descriptions of the full spectrum of semantic values associated with the Lithuanian, Bulgarian, and Barese perfects, as they are used in the data, along
with a comparative analysis of the three case studies. The outcome of the study is a proposed grammaticalization cline for BE perfects, which is based on conceptual connections between different values, and supported by quantitative data on the BE auxiliary usage.
... Gracias a las recientes aportaciones de las teorías de la gramaticalización sabemos que las perífrasis verbales (PPVV en adelante) -esto es, las uniones semánticas, sintácticas y prosódicas de dos verbos en el núcleo del sintagma verbal-constituyen el mejor ejemplo del llamado continuum entre el léxico y la gramática (cf. Heine 1993;Kuteva 2004;Zieliński 2014). El paulatino proceso de gramaticalización que sufren arranca del valor léxico originario (p. ...
The objective of the paper is to analyze the origin and the evolution of the explanatory value of the construction <querer ‘want’ + infinitive>, documented in Castilian texts from the Middle Ages. Through a relatively large corpus of Latin texts (5th–12th centuries) and Spanish texts (13th–15th centuries), the Author explores the main linguistic and discursive reasons that determined its use in the Spanish language.
... 13 Proksimatif için bk. Heine (1994), Kuteva (1998Kuteva ( , 2001, Heine ve Kuteva (2002), Korn ve Nevskaya (2017). Nogaycada proksimatif işaretleyen biçimler için bk. ...
Bu makale, Kıpçak Türkçesinin Güney Kıpçak alt grubunda yer alan ve günümüzde özellikle Kuzey Kafkasya’da konuşulan Türk dillerinden biri olan Nogaycadaki çokfiilli yüklemler ile fiillerden gelişmiş dilbilgisel yapıları biçim-sözdizimi özellikleri ve işlevleri yönüyle inceleyerek bütüncül bir sınıflandırma ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Bir zarf-fiil (-(I)p ya da -A), ad-fiil (-MAGA) ya da sıfat-fiil (-(A)yAK) ekiyle birleşerek dilbilgisel kompleks bir morfem oluşturan fiillerin farklı alt işlevleriyle birlikte kılınış, görünüş, kiplik, proksimatif veya avertif işaretleyicisi olarak kullanıldığı görülmektedir. Dilbilgiselleşme sürecinden geçmiş bazı fiillerin hem kendi sözlük anlamlarıyla da kullanılabilme hem de aynı zamanda farklı dilbilgisel kategorileri işaretleyebilme özelliği göz önüne alındığında, potansiyel olarak karşımıza çıkan biçimsel aynılık ve çokişlevlilik sorunu da makalede ele alınmaktadır.
... A finite number of lexical forms that may serve as sources for grammaticalization targets have been identified cross-linguistically. These lexical items must be discursively frequent, and typically refer to rather concrete entities and concepts that are largely universal to human experience (Heine et al. 1991;Kuteva 1995Kuteva , 2004, such as body parts, common actions, or basic movements. A comprehensive description of all the processes that lead a lexical word or phrase to gradually take a grammatical function remains a long-term objective of a productive research field, but four mechanisms seem predominant if one adopts a global approach (Heine 2003;Kuteva et al. 2019: 3): ...
This article investigates the grammaticalization patterns of evidentiality from a cross-linguistic perspective with a focus on Lhasa Tibetan. It documents the history of the evidential morphemes ’dug, -song, -bzhag , and = ze from Old Literary Tibetan to modern spoken Lhasa Tibetan. Our analyses show that these morphemes started grammaticalizing before encoding evidentiality. We argue that, through pragmatic strengthening, evidentiality tends to infiltrate forms which have already grammaticalized to express other semantic domains. These patterns of grammaticalization are confirmed by diachronic and reconstructed data from genetically unrelated languages. Evidentiality thus tends to be a ‘grammaticalization passenger’ (i.e., a conventionalized meaning which used to be merely implied from the recurrent contexts of a grammaticalized form) rather than a ‘grammaticalization target’ (i.e., a functional domain which triggers grammaticalization). This may explain why evidentiality is less often grammaticalized than other notions, such as time or modality, in the world’s languages.
... Интересен контраст этого значения глагола κάθομαι со значением вовлеченности в какоелибо занятие, описанным выше. (12) Δεν βλέπετε πως δουλεύουμε μόνο την περίοδο της συγκομιδής και μετά καθόμαστε; ...
Статья посвящена анализу функционирования новогреческого глагола κάθομαι ‘сидеть’ в аспекте его взаимодействия с его лексическим и синтаксическим окружением. Актуальность работы обусловлена малоисследованностью системы позиционных глаголов новогреческого языка и путей их грамматикализации. Исследование проводится с использованием корпусного и лексикографического методов на материале данных двух корпусов текстов — Национального корпуса греческого языка и корпуса elTenTen19 — и основных словарей новогреческого языка. Анализируется спектр значений глагола κάθομαι и характеризуются конструкции, в которых эти значения проявляются. Отдельно проводится корпусный анализ конструкции Τι κάθεσαι και Х. Показано, что новогреческий глагол κάθομαι представляет собой слабосемантизированную лексическую единицу, значение которой определяется ее окружением. В составе конструкции Τι κάθεσαι και Χ, выражающей негативную оценку действия или состояния Х, глагол κάθομαι утрачивает свое значение специфической позы человека, однако в зависимости от лексического наполнения слота способен в рамках одной и той же конструкции демонстрировать разнообразные нелокативные значения. Взаимодействие глагола κάθομαι как составного элемента конструкции и лексического наполнения слота конструкции позволяет рассматриваемому глаголу проявлять свою полисемию
... The prospective aspect, sometimes also referred to as "proximative" (Heine 1994, Kuteva 2001, Kuteva et al. 2019, expresses a relation between the subject argument's current state and a subsequent eventuality (Comrie 1976:64). An illustrative example is The ship is about to sail (Comrie 1976:64), which presents the ship as being in a state preceding a sailing event. ...
The paper presents a detailed corpus-based analysis of the German prospective stehen vor NP light verb construction. The starting point of the analysis is the claim that the construction is restricted to change-of-state nouns in the NP-internal position (Fleischhauer & Gamerschlag 2019, Fleischhauer et al. 2019). Based on corpus data, I demonstrate that although the construction shows a strong preference for such nouns, other semantic types of nouns (such as state nouns or process nouns) occur in the construction as well. I argue that process nouns in particular require contextual support to be licensed within the construction. In the paper, I present an analysis of the prospective light verb construction in terms of current relevance. This analysis accounts for the observed preference for change-of-state NP-internal nouns as well as for the need to provide contextual support for process nouns. The notion current relevance is frequently employed in the analysis of the perfect aspect; the current paper represents the first attempt to extend this notion to the prospective aspect.*
... Tais verbos emergem comumente a partir de um processo de mudança linguística denominado gramaticalização (cf. Heine, 1993;Ribeiro, 1993;Kuteva, 2001;Coelho, 2006Coelho, , 2021Narrog;Heine, 2011;Vitral;Coelho, 2019). ...
Rocha, 2019ROCHA, B. O corpus C-ORAL-ESQ e a estrutura informacional da fala de pacientes com esquizofrenia. Working Papers em Linguística, [Florianópolis], v. 20, n. 1, p. 212-238, 2019. DOI: 10.5007/1984-8420.2019v20n1p212.
https://doi.org/10.5007/1984-8420.2019v2... Raso; Mello, 2012RASO, T.; MELLO, H. (org.). C-ORAL-BRASIL I: corpus de referência do português brasileiro falado informal. Belo Horizonte: Ed. da UFMG, 2012.
prosody; computational linguistics; Python
... Such verbs commonly originate from a linguistic change process called grammaticalization (cf. Heine, 1993;Ribeiro, 1993;Kuteva, 2001;Coelho, 2006Coelho, , 2021Narrog;Heine, 2011;Vitral;Coelho, 2019). ...
Rocha, 2019ROCHA, B. O corpus C-ORAL-ESQ e a estrutura informacional da fala de pacientes com esquizofrenia. Working Papers em Linguística, [Florianópolis], v. 20, n. 1, p. 212-238, 2019. DOI: 10.5007/1984-8420.2019v20n1p212.
https://doi.org/10.5007/1984-8420.2019v2... Raso; Mello, 2012RASO, T.; MELLO, H. (org.). C-ORAL-BRASIL I: corpus de referência do português brasileiro falado informal. Belo Horizonte: Ed. da UFMG, 2012.
prosody; computational linguistics; Python
... These structures are easily understandable from a typological point of view: the nomen agentis of the structure kartāsmi, for example, implies a semantic component of volition, which is a typical lexical source for the future, and the use of semantically generic verbs such as 'be", 'become", 'do" is consistent with the lexical sources commonly recruited for auxiliaries (cf. Kuteva 2001;Anderson 2006). However, the emergence of the periphrastic perfect and of the periphrastic future does not impinge upon the inverse proportion between analysis and a rich inventory of tenses or moods. ...
... We propose the term "avoidive" in order to prevent a terminological confusion resulting from the fact that the term "avertive" has been established as a label for a cross-linguistically identifiable grammatical category that involves the past as well as counterfactuality as two of its semantic components. More precisely, the avertive has been described as a semantically elaborate grammatical category with the meaning of an action narrowly averted in the past, i.e., "was on the verge of V-ing but didn't Verb" (Kuteva 2000(Kuteva , 2001Heine and Kuteva 2002b;Kuteva, Heine et al. 2019;Kuteva, Aarts et al. 2019 and2020). The avoidive, on the other hand, involves a verb situation which is highly probable and does not involve the past as a definitional criterion. ...
This paper addresses avoidives, the grammatical means of precautioning the hearer against probable and undesirable
events, from crosslinguistic and grammaticalization perspectives. An analysis of avoidives in English and Korean
shows that the two languages do not share much commonality with regard to lexical sources but that their source constructions
have undergone changes characteristic of grammaticalization over time. We argue that the development of
an avoidive into an apprehensive is among the cross-linguistically common channels, through insubordination, whereby
the main clause of a biclausal expression becomes elided and the subordinate clause becomes the main clause, carrying
the pragmatically inferred meaning from ellipsis, e.g., warning, as part of the meaning of the construction. The
development from biclausal to monoclausal structure, however, is not deterministic, as evidence by the Korean scenario
in the reversed direction shows. We also argue that negation and temporal are common source concepts in the grammaticalization
of avoidives, and that some of the Korean lexical sources have not yet been observed across languages.
... Les interfaces ne sont abordées qu'à la marge et pour rendre compte d'un nombre limité de phénomènes (marquage prosodique de la structure informationnelle par exemple). Dans le cas présent, une explication de l'auxiliation en français L2 par la morphologie verbale de la L1 est vaine car l'auxiliation est un procédé attesté en allemand comme en japonais (Heine, 1993;Kuteva, 2001;Anderson, 2006). Toutefois les deux langues, japonais et allemand, se distinguent du français sur le plan prosodique et métrique. ...
... However, given the central role of epistemic modality and the nature of this linguistic function, much of the research, whether typological, contrastive or language specific, treats epistemic structures. The seminal texts on grammaticalisation per se would include Lehmann, (1982), Heine (1993), Kuteva (2001), and Heine & Kuteva (2002). Two more recent monographs of importance are Hoffmann (2006) and Eckardt (2006). ...
... However, given the central role of epistemic modality and the nature of this linguistic function, much of the research, whether typological, contrastive or language specific, treats epistemic structures. The seminal texts on grammaticalisation per se would include Lehmann, (1982), Heine (1993), Kuteva (2001), and Heine & Kuteva (2002). Two more recent monographs of importance are Hoffmann (2006) and Eckardt (2006). ...
This bibliography attempts to bring together four divergent, yet related, lines of research, modality, evidentiality, stance / evaluation and subjectification, into a single field that we can call subjectivity – epistemicity. A definitive bibliography of such a broad field is not possible for two reasons. Firstly, the quantity of research and rate of its production across all fours subfields is considerable. Secondly, the broad field, lying at the crossroads of many other domains of research and scientific disciplines, is impossible to clearly demarcate. For these reasons, no attempt at completeness is made. The aim of this bibliography is, instead, to allow researchers in each of the different lines of research, quick access and reference to research in comparable, yet distinct approaches
... However, given the central role of epistemic modality and the nature of this linguistic function, much of the research, whether typological, contrastive or language specific, treats epistemic structures. The seminal texts on grammaticalisation per se would include Lehmann, (1982), Heine (1993), Kuteva (2001), and Heine & Kuteva (2002). Two more recent monographs of importance are Hoffmann (2006) and Eckardt (2006). ...
This bibliography attempts to bring together four divergent, yet related, lines of
research, modality, evidentiality, stance / evaluation and subjectification, into a
single field that we can call subjectivity – epistemicity. A definitive bibliography
of such a broad field is not possible for two reasons. Firstly, the quantity of
research and rate of its production across all fours subfields is considerable.
Secondly, the broad field, lying at the crossroads of many other domains of
research and scientific disciplines, is impossible to clearly demarcate. For these
reasons, no attempt at completeness is made. The aim of this bibliography is,
instead, to allow researchers in each of the different lines of research, quick access
and reference to research in comparable, yet distinct approaches
... Grammaticalization theory has accumulated enormous insight into the rise of grammatical categories and formatives and their restructuring in general (Diewald 2002(Diewald , 2006Hopper 1991;Hopper & Traugott 2003;Lehmann 2015;Lehmann, Lima & Soares 2010), including the development of verbal constructions, e.g. auxiliaries of tense, mood and aspect (Bybee, Perkins & Pagliuca 1994;Diewald 1999;Kuteva 2001). Studies on mechanisms of change have elucidated the role of contexts and pragmatic factors. ...
Construction grammar – most notably Cognitive Construction Grammar ( Goldberg 2006 ), Radical Construction Grammar ( Croft 2001 ) and Cognitive Grammar ( Langacker 2008 ) – has been extremely inspiring in providing tools for modelling gradience in variation and change. Verbal constructions have been investigated within the paradigm of construction grammar from a number of angles including idiomaticization processes as well as argument structure constructions ( Boas 2003 ; Engelberg 2009 ; Faulhaber 2011 ; Goldberg 1995 ; Rostila 2007 ). Usage-based approaches ( Barlow & Kemmer 2000 ; Bybee & Hopper 2001 ; Diessel 2015 , 2019 ; Langacker 1988 ; Tomasello 2003 ) have pointed out that usage is the place to look for variation and change. Data-driven, corpus-based approaches have introduced quantitative methods for analyzing constructional functionality and variety synchronically ( Stefanowitsch & Gries 2003 ; Gries 2006 ; Glynn 2014 ) and diachronically ( Hilpert 2006 ). These techniques have given rise to detailed studies of verbal constructions, lexicalization and idiomaticization.
This volume presents papers which in their majority have arisen in connection with the workshop “Variation and Grammaticalization of Verbal Constructions”, held at the 51st SLE Annual Meeting at Tallinn, 29th August – 1st September 2018. Its focus is on verbal constructions in Germanic languages, constructional variation and degrees of polyfunctionality between lexical, idiomatic and grammaticalized usages. The major object of this volume is to investigate the conditions and interdependencies of such variations and polyfunctionalities. The theoretical and conceptual foundations of the studies united here rest upon grammaticalization theory, usage-based constructional approaches, and frame semantics, allway in combination with empirical testing. The scope of interest comprises synchronic as well as diachronic phenomena in various registers and communicative types.
... In order to do so, a further aspect is introduced into our analysis, which has not played a role so far in the parameters for clause linkage and "Statusrektion" / "coherence". It is the feature of the animacy of the subject, which is assumed to play an important role both typologically and in grammaticalization studies (Comrie 1989;Kuteva 2001;Diewald 1999). By considering this additional feature, we expect to be able to increase the discriminatory power of our analysis where the syntactic features remain indeterminative, i.e., as just mentioned, (a) concerning the effect of the correlate es in the infinitive constructions, and (b) the animacy of the subject and the distinction of passive versus active infinitives (see model 2 in 4.2). ...
This paper deals with different types of verbal complementation of the German verb verdienen . It focuses on constructions that have been undergoing a grammaticalization process and thus express deontic modality, as in Sie verdient geliebt zu werden (ʽShe deserves to be lovedʼ) and Sie verdient zu leben (ʽShe deserves to liveʼ) ( Diewald, Dekalo & Czicza 2021 ). These constructions are connected to parallel complementation types with passive and active infinitives containing a correlate es , as in Sie verdient es, geliebt zu werden and Sie verdient es, zu leben , as well as finite clauses with the subordinator dass with and without correlative es , as in Sie verdient, dass sie geliebt wird and Sie verdient es, dass sie geliebt wird . This paper attempts to show a close comparative investigation of these six types of constructions based on their relevant semantic and syntactic properties in terms of clause linkage ( Lehmann 1988 ). We analyze the relevant data retrieved from the DWDS corpus of the 20th century and present an expanded grammaticalization path for verdienen -constructions. The finite complementation with dass is regarded as an example of a separate structural option called “elaboration”. Concerning the use of correlative es , it is shown that it does not have any substantial effect on the grammaticalization of modal verdienen -constructions.
... Aunque Kuteva (2001), que estudia este fenómeno aclara que este proceso es "desemanticization", este concepto es más estrecho. Como representa la denominación, en los estudios de la auxiliarización, se tratan principalmente las combinaciones de verbos desemantizados e infinitivos. ...
The most frequent verbs tend to have multiple uses. In some of them, the verbs are highly desemanti-cized and function as light verbs, pseudocopulati-ves or are part of periphrases. In this study, we will look at the phenomenon of verb desemanticization from a teacher's perspective. First, we will show the high frequency of the phenomenon and point out the importance of desemanticized uses. We will also show the difficulty of handling desemanticized uses for non-native speakers. Then, reviewing the studies on these usages carried out in the field of linguistics, we will propose a methodology and strategy to teach them. RESUMEN Los verbos más frecuentes suelen tener múltiples usos. En algunos de ellos los verbos están altamente dese-mantizados y funcionan como verbos de apoyo, pseu-docopulativos o forman parte de perífrasis. En este estudio contemplaremos el fenómeno de la deseman-tización verbal desde la perspectiva docente. Primero, mostraremos la alta frecuencia del fenómeno y defen-deremos la importancia de los usos desemantizados. Después, señalaremos la dificultad de manejar los usos desemantizados para los no nativos. Además, repa-sando los estudios acerca de estos usos realizados en el ámbito de la lingüística, propondremos una metodolo-gía y estrategia para enseñarlos.
... Através da gramaticalização, uma unidade lexical de significado concreto, isto é, que denota experiências humanas do plano sociofísico, adquire uma função gramatical de significado abstrato, deixando de se referir ao plano sociofísico (cf. KUTEVA, 2001). No caso de processos de gramaticalização que levam ao surgimento de um novo verbo auxiliar, geralmente, por pressão do contexto de uso, um verbo lexical se torna, ao longo do tempo, um verbo com uma função gramatical relacionada à indicação de tempo, aspecto, modo e/ou modalidade. ...
RESUMO: Neste estudo, com fundamentação nos pressupostos teóricos do funcionalismo norte-americano, abordamos o uso do verbo PEGAR na perífrase [PEGAR (E) V2], em que PEGAR é o verbo auxiliar gramatical V1 e V2 é o verbo nuclear lexical. Temos como objetivo analisar traços semântico-pragmáticos vinculados à perífrase [PEGAR (E) V2] no português brasileiro contemporâneo, buscando indícios que contribuam para a descrição da função desempenhada por PEGAR nessa perífrase. Para tanto, fazemos uso de dados de fala extraídos dos corpora Discurso & Gramática referentes a Natal (RN) e ao Rio de Janeiro (RJ). Os resultados, obtidos através de análise quantitativa, revelam que PEGAR desempenha, na maioria das ocorrências, a função de indicar aspecto global, salientando um conjunto de traços semântico-pragmáticos como pontualidade, subtaneidade e/ou uma tomada de iniciativa do agente (no papel sintático de sujeito da perífrase).
... Himmelmann 2004), whereby the collexemes of verdienen expand from concrete to abstract and their morpho-syntactic contexts from nominal to infinitival complement and subsequently from passive to active. Synchronic distribution can thus serve as a window on diachronic development (Kuteva 2001), in this case the rise of a deontic modality marker. ...
... There is another category related to, but not identical with the proximative: the advertive (Kuteva 2001), first identified by Kuteva (1998) under the name ANA, 'action narrowly averted'. The avertive expresses the notion of 'was on the verge of doing V-ing but did not' (Kuteva 1998:113). ...
This dissertation is a diachronic constructional investigation into the adverse avertive schema in Chinese, tracking and analyzing the development of the schema from its precursors to its obsolescence, and its members and component parts. This study first desribes the adverse avertive schema and attributes to it four features inspired by crosslinguistic studies on similar expressions: imminence, pastness, counterfactuality and adversity. It then shows that neoanalysis first led to the constructionalization of the schema, while after the schema had been established analogization gave rise to several adverse avertive micro-constructions. Crucial to this process of analogization were attraction to the pre-existing patterns and heterosemy links that facilitated matching the forms and functions of novel micro-constructions to those of the schema. The developments of the micro-constructions also reflected the trajectory of change observed in the precursors. The obsolescence of the schema is accounted for quantitatively and qualitatively. Accompanied by decreases in both type and token frequency were the loss of heterosemy links and reconfiguration of links that altered the organization of the schema. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that each member of the schema has its unique history, yet is intimately involved in the schema as a whole.
... Speakers of English know very many of these ready-made anacrustic expressions and how they are used; looked him straight in the eye and, for example, ( Sit, being intrinsically inactive, could be considered an ideal choice for an anacrusis. The persistent use of sit and go in the anacrustic piece has implications for a typological feature of anacrustic coordination, its historical role in the grammaticalization of auxiliaries (Kuteva 2004 A single speaker can pursue an anacrustic coordination past a turn completion point and into the next TCU. In the following excerpt, Marilyn is telling Pete about a tactic used by holiday agents to entice customers to undertake expensive salmon fishing vacations: ...
Anacrustic Coordination (AC) is a type of biclausal conjunction such that an initial clause or phrase sets up a state of affairs and is followed by and and a strongly focused second clause, for example three years it’s been sitting here and I haven’t done it. AC figures in a number of kinds of interaction. One is the topic/comment conditional, as in call it up and there’s something that actually says your number. It is a possibility for enhancing certain illocutionary acts such as threats and warnings: I’m gonna take that and I’m gonna dig it into you . It is a basis for syntactic mirativity, the coding of surprise and unexpectedness ( DeLancey 1997 ): you turn your back and there’s somebody moving in . AC raises questions about the nature of constructions and of Construction Grammar.
... Pavyzdžiui, neseniai žymiai tipologei Taniai Kutevai pasiūlius Universalųjį gramatinį rinkinį papildyti naujai apibrėžta avertyvo gramema (žr. Kuteva 1998;2001), jos netriviali raiška buvo atrasta bei aprašyta ir lietuvių kalboje (Arkadiev 2011b). Tradicinėse gramatikose daugelis reikšmingų gramemų lingvistų buvo nepastebima (ir neaprašoma) dėl anksčiau, ikitipologiniu laikotarpiu, vyravusio perdėm logizuoto požiūrio į gramatines kategorijas. ...
... SUBJECT IF néng; Section 2.4). Second, prior to univerbation, by hypothesis néng would have to lose its dynamic semantics, a process known as 'bleaching' in general (Sweetser 1988) and take on the semantics of conditionality (which was contextual at first) from the neighboring protasis connective, which is a kind of 'context-absorption' (Kuteva 2001 For example, q in (12)- (14) is predicted by p. As suggested in the translations, whether néng is present or not does not alter the interpretations significantly. ...
The grammaticalization literature has not demonstrated convincingly how, if at all, dynamic modals may develop into conditional protasis connectives. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative evidence from Chinese, this paper hypothesizes that such a directionality may arise through univerbation between dynamic modals and protasis connectives (e.g. ruò ‘if’ + néng ‘be able to’ > ruònéng ‘if’). Furthermore, this paper suggests that functional compatibility in terms of performativity may explain why dynamic modals tend to grammaticalize into connectives in pre-established conditional protases, while deontic and epistemic modals do so in main clauses.
In this article I examine the concept of 'gentrification' from its inception to its current varied uses and interpretations. Using the Oxford English Dictionary's third edition illustrative quotations database as a diachronic corpus of English, I employ a corpus-assisted and cognitive linguistics-inspired critical discourse analysis to trace the genealogy of the term within the broader field of related terms. By disentangling the emergence of this ideologically-laden term, the study enhances our understanding of how class-struggle discourse has evolved from the late Middle Ages to the Enlightenment and late-modernity. It is argued that a robust definition of 'gentrification'-which foregrounds the displacement of low-income residents-depends on historicizing the phenomenon, i.e. tracing its roots in concepts, practices and values.
The present study explores the progressive constructions in different Balochi dialects from a diachronic and an areal linguistic point of view. Previous studies on different Balochi dialects (Buddruss 1988; Baranzehi 2003; Farrell 2003; Axenov 2006; Ahangar 2007; Jahani and Korn 2009; Nourzaei et al. 2015; Korn and Nourzaei 2019; Korn 2020, 2017a and 2017b) have described progressive constructions, but discussion from a diachronic and an areal linguistic point of view is largely lacking. I will argue that the diversity of progressive constructions in Balochi dialects is a result of language contact and diffusion rather than an internal historical development that can be explained in terms of grammaticalization. In addition, there is no trace of a morphological progressive construction in written samples of Balochi. The general imperfective marker = a = (verbal clitic) covers ongoing meaning. To the extent that this marker has lost its ongoing meaning and become a general indicative marker in the present domain, the language has filled the progressive gap with new constructions which are basically a result of language and dialect contact. The new progressive constructions are mainly periphrastic constructions that represent either direct or indirect code copying from dominant languages and other Balochi dialects.
The article analyzes the functioning of the Modern Greek verb κάθομαι ‘to sit’ in relation to its lexical and syntactic environment. The study is motivated by the under-researched system of position verbs in Modern Greek and their grammaticalization. Corpus and lexicographic methods are used, drawing on data from the National Corpus of Greek and the elTenTen19 corpus, as well as major Modern Greek dictionaries. The spectrum of meanings of κάθομαι is analyzed, along with the constructions in which these meanings are manifested. A corpus analysis of the construction Τι κάθεσαι και Χ is separately conducted. The study shows that κάθομαι is a weakly semantically-specified lexical unit whose meaning is determined by its context. In the construction Τι κάθεσαι και Χ , which expresses a negative evaluation of an action or state X, the verb κάθομαι loses its meaning of a specific human posture. However, depending on the lexical content of the construction slot, it is capable of demonstrating various non-locative meanings within the same construction. The interaction between κάθομαι as a constituent element of the construction and the lexical content of the slot allows this verb to exhibit its polysemy.
The aim of this chapter is to investigate the diachronic evolution of the participial construction with the copular verb in Greek, that is, eimí ‘be’ + (present, aorist, perfect) ‘participle’. Previous research has revealed that Ancient Greek developed several participial periphrases which were characterized by a synchronically variable and diachronically changing degree of integration into the verbal system. Changes have been attributed not only to system internal causes, but also, in the case of the present participial periphrasis, to translational interference from a Semitic language. The current research seeks to discuss the mechanics of the syntactic change that was responsible for the emergence and development of these constructions. Specifically, while it is maintained that the constructions under examination started out as manifestations of the same syntactic pattern, they diachronically followed divergent paths which were determined by their inherent properties. This functional divergence must be attributed to a gradual process that cumulatively led an originally non-verbal predication sentential type to accrue more salient verbal properties than the original copular schema. The motivation identified behind this process is paradigmatic (rather than contextual and syntagmatic) and based on successive analogical mappings of different (more verbal than adjectival) types of participles in the same syntactic pattern. In this context, external factors mainly concern translational effect on the language of a specific period rather a long-term development, resulted by systematic language contact. Finally, the proposed analysis is discussed with regard to its implications for the syntactic reconstruction of PIE.
This volume investigates the functional-semantic field of aspectuality in relation to the role of language contact in the development of minority languages in Italy and beyond, highlighting hitherto completely unknown parallels, e.g. contact-induced development of progressive and prospective verbal periphrases. The influences of the dominant languages surface not only in Slavic derivational verbal aspect, but also in the restructuring of morphosyntactic reflexes of aspect. Aspectuality is examined in relation to Slavic micro-languages spoken in Italy (Molise Slavic, Resian, Tersko, Nadiško), Austria (Burgenland Croatian), Germany (Upper Sorbian), Albania (Kaj-nas) and the Baltic, as well as in relation to Arbëresh, Cimbrian, Griko, Lithuanian and Macedonian.
The following paper aims to draw attention to grammatical markers and lexical units that shape the avertive meaning ‘action narrowly averted’ in two Turkic languages: Turkmen as an East Oghuz Turkic language, and Uyghur as a Kipchak East Turkic language. It is attested that in both languages the speakers, expressing this meaning use the marker {tas}. In Turkmen {tas} occurs autonomously and is not bound to the verb form, while in Uyghur it appears as an integral constituent of the analytical verbal form {tas Kal-} ‘to be near/little left’. As far as for the verbal forms, Uyghur offers a weight-bearing verbal structure, while the verbal form in Turkmen is rather simple. Describing and contrasting these formal and semantic properties, the paper discusses that: a) the functions of the marker {tas} differ in both languages, b) {tas} in Turkmen has become a grammaticalized marker and its conceivable lexical origin are likely the Turkmen motion verbs with the roots {tas-/taz-/tis-}.
This paper aims to describe and explain the different morphosyntactic and semantic features of some double verb constructions in Persian, an Indo-European language mainly spoken in Iran. It is argued that these double verb constructions are not instances of serial verb construction, but instances of emerging aspectual verbs with varied degrees of grammaticalization. It is argued that numerous factors lead to grammaticalization of these verbs, including context, the semantic class of the verbs, and their frequency. A corpus-based analysis shows that these aspectual verbs have been grammaticalized in different ratios during the last one hundred years, demonstrating ongoing change in the Persian language.
This thesis presents a polylectal study of Senhaja Berber varieties (Northwestern Morocco), underlining the differences and commonalities between them. The thesis is based on fieldwork data, issuing from seven varieties. Three varieties – Ketama (West), Hmed (Center), and Zerqet (East) – are focused on to cover Senhaja most fully and accurately. The studied varieties are important for the understanding of the linguistic variation and history of the region. Senhaja shows some similarities to the Ghomara language (spoken to its West), and to Tarifiyt (spoken to its East), but there are also substantial differences. Senhaja and Ghomara might share a common origin.The thesis covers the major domains of the language (phonology, morphology, morphosyntax) and pays attention to the contact linguistics phenomena. Senhaja has been heavily influenced by Arabic in its lexicon, morphology, and syntax. Arabic patterns are found, for example, in verb derivation and derivation of diminutives. In Senhaja, adjectives form a distinct class, which is not common in Berber. Some Senhaja varieties allow for adjectives to be conjugated, which makes them similar to verbs. Another special feature of Senhaja is the divergent behavior of the verbal clitics. Across Berber, clitics are fronted under specific syntactic conditions. In Ketama, clitic fronting can be incomplete, and the deictic clitic may be doubled. In other parts of Senhaja, clitics can remain postposed, where they normally should be fronted. It is argued that the main driving forces behind the divergent clitic behavior in Senhaja are reanalysis, grammaticalization, and the drive to avoid ambiguity.
The three human at‐rest postures of sitting, standing, and lying are basic, recurring features of human behavior and may reasonably be called primary postures. The three postures share the property of being stable through time, but they are also differentiated in terms of their overall shape, their physiological properties, and typical associated behaviors such as the association of sitting with social interaction, and lying with sleeping. The experiential realities of the three postures underlie and motivate a range of cross‐linguistic phenomena involving morphemes with meanings of “sit”, “stand,” and “lie”. The relevant linguistic phenomena include higher frequencies of occurrence compared with other kinds of posture verbs and differential behavior with respect to some morphosyntactic patterns involving notions such as agentivity. The posture morphemes can also be the source for a variety of semantic extensions reflecting experiential realities of the postures, such as the extension of “lie” to mean “sleep” in some languages. Extensions also include grammaticalizations of the posture morphemes to locative and aspectual markers which reflect the temporal stability and spatial fixedness of the postures themselves.
This article is categorized under: Linguistics > Cognitive Linguistics
Linguistics > Language in Mind and Brain
The aim of the study is to analyse the functioning of morphological analytical constructions of passive voice in modern English. The paper considers the gradual change in morphological status of analytical constructions with the verb get. Scientific originality of the paper lies in conducting a comprehensive analysis of grammaticalisation dynamics characterising the get + Past Participle structure over the period from the XVIII to the XX century and in identifying stages of its development in British and American English. As a result, the researcher has proved that at different stages of its development the construction is characterised by different lexical valence and asymmetric distribution of grammatical and lexical meanings. The paper presents the development of the get + Past Participle construction as a three-stage grammaticalisation model.
Previous studies of Chinese VdeO clefts mainly focus on the function of shì and attribute the meaning of the VdeO clefts to the focus marking feature of shì without considering their functions and developments as independent constructions. This paper classifies VdeO clefts into specificational VdeO clefts (Variant1) and predicational VdeO clefts (Variant2) and analyzes the formation and development of these two types of Chinese VdeO clefts with a diachronic constructionist approach. The constructionalization of specificational VdeO clefts undergoes a series of function shifts from membership-inclusion to properties-predicating and then to value-specifying. It is the micro-step changes that finally lead to the mismatched pseudo-modifer VdeO element. The context-absorption of contrastive context is the source for the construction meaning specifying an exclusive value for the variable. In contrast, the development of predicational VdeO clefts only involves constructional changes from V-focus to VdeO-focus and then to O-focus. The change of focus is governed by the Focus-Shift Principle, according to which, the focus of a sentence tends to fall on the more complicated and specified information.
Grammaticalization research looks back on a rich history, but recent empirical findings, as well as new insights from cognitive science and psycholinguistics, entice researchers to reassess and review what we know about the process. This book presents a detailed study of the grammaticalization of motion verbs in the Mayan languages. The focus lies on variation in the parallel grammaticalization of motion verbs into auxiliaries and directionals. It is demonstrated that the genetically related and areally close languages do not always grammaticalize source items in the same way - both from a formal and meaning perspective. The empirical findings suggest that traditional theories on grammaticalization do not capture the complex nature of the phenomenon entirely. Therefore, a Network Approach to grammaticalization is introduced which emphasizes a 'meaning-first' account. The approach seeks to combine the conceptual with the discourse-pragmatic while being firmly grounded in cognitive and psychological facts. New insights into the grammaticalization behavior of the world's languages are offered, while well-established notions and assumptions within the grammaticalization research paradigm are reviewed and challenged.
Change is an inherent feature of all aspects of language, and syntax is no exception. While the synchronic study of syntax allows us to make discoveries about the nature of syntactic structure, the study of historical syntax offers even greater possibilities. Over recent decades, the study of historical syntax has proven to be a powerful scientific tool of enquiry with which to challenge and reassess hypotheses and ideas about the nature of syntactic structure which go beyond the observed limits of the study of the synchronic syntax of individual languages or language families. In this timely Handbook, the editors bring together the best of recent international scholarship on historical syntax. Each chapter is focused on a theme rather than an individual language, allowing readers to discover how systematic descriptions of historical data can profitably inform and challenge highly diverse sets of theoretical assumptions.
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