JournaLIPP (Graduate School Language & Literature - Class of Language, LMU München)
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Prozesse up and down the cline und die Frage der (De-)Grammatikalisierung
Get PDFGrammatikalisierung ist nach Fischer, Norde und Perridon (2004) ein down the cline gerichteter Prozess. Präzisierend fassen ihn Lehmann (2004) und Harnisch (2004) als Abstieg auf der Skala der Konstruktionsebenen: Phrase – Wort – Klitikon – Affix. Umgekehrt wird De-Grammatikalisierung als up the cline gerichteter Prozess und als Aufstieg auf der Skala der Konstruktionsebenen aufgefasst: Affix – Klitikon – Wort – Phrase. Bei beiden Prozessarten wird der Bereich bedeutungstragender Einheiten (die Sphäre der Morphie) nicht verlassen. Harnisch (2004) bezieht darüber hinaus jedoch die Konstruktionsebene der reinen (bedeutungslosen) Lautsubstanz (die Sphäre der Amorphie) mit ein und betrachtet auch Prozesse, die – down oder up the cline – die Grenze zwischen Morphie und Amorphie überschreiten. Doch anders, als noch bei Harnisch (2004) konzipiert, hat man es bei Prozessen, die down the cline die Grenze zwischen Morphie und Amorphie übertreten, nicht mehr mit Grammatikalisierung zu tun, denn bei diesem Übertritt geht ja Grammatizität, verstanden als explizite Kennzeichnung grammatischer Kategorien, gerade verloren. Umgekehrt hat man es bei Prozessen, die up the cline die Grenze zwischen Amorphie und Morphie übertreten, nicht mehr mit De-Grammatikalisierung zu tun, denn bei diesem Übertritt wird ja gerade Grammatizität, wiederum verstanden als explizite Kennzeichnung grammatischer Kategorien, gewonnen. Die sich hierbei abspielenden Prozesse werden anhand von Beispielen aus den Bereichen Sprachwandel, Fremdwortintegration und Spracherwerb veranschaulicht. Ein Exkurs soll verdeutlichen, dass sich solche Erscheinungen nicht nur in der Flexionsmorphologie abspielen (als De-/Grammatikalisierung) sondern auch in der Wortbildungsmorphologie (als Ent-/Derivationalisierung). Abschließend wird eine Typologie sowohl der Vorgänge vorgeschlagen, die sich innerhalb der Sphäre der Morphie abspielen, als auch der Vorgänge, bei denen die Grenze zwischen Morphie oder Amorphie in der einen oder andern Richtung überschritten wird.
Demonstrative reinforcement cycles and grammaticalization
Get PDFDemonstratives, broadly defined as deictic expressions, do not develop through grammaticalization (Diessel 1999: 150). The renewal of demonstratives, and the mechanisms and motivations underlying such processes, have not been studied in great detail. Greenberg’s (1978) observation that demonstratives are often replaced by reinforced forms might shed light on this diachronic process, and this study aims to explore this phenomenon further, as well as its connection with grammaticalization. I hypothesize that the frequent reinforcement of demonstratives can lead to the development of new demonstratives, which may catalyze the grammaticalization of old ones. The hypothesis presented here differs from many other accounts of renewal in that it sees reinforcement as a possible driving force behind grammaticalization, and not vice versa, as suggested in Diessel (2006: 474) and van Gelderen (2011: 210), among others.
Grammaticalization and automation
Get PDFEvery human activity including language is part of a teleonomic hierarchy, where subordinate processes serve superordinate goals. The goals are pursued consciously; the processes run automatically. A teleonomic hierarchy is, at the same time, a scale between the poles of control and automation. Automation is the downgrading of an action to the level of an uncontrolled process. Regain of control over a process that has been automatized is hard or impossible. Language activity, too, is controlled or automatic in different aspects and to different degrees. The speaker’s freedom is realized at two logical levels: At the lower level, his use of grammatical operations and formatives is not free, but determined by rules of the linguistic system. At the higher level, he can choose the components of his activity which he wants to control, leaving the rest to automatisms of the system. Grammaticalization subjects operations and items to constraints of the system. This creates a uniform relation between conditioning factor and construction formed. This relation, together with frequency of use, is responsible for the automation of grammar. Since processes once automated are withdrawn from control, degrammaticalization is all but impossible
Paradigm change and language contact: A framework of analysis and some speculation about the underlying cognitive processes
Get PDFThis article contains some thoughts on the role of bilingual cognition in the diachronic change of morphological paradigms, with a focus on contact-induced change. In a first step, a general typology of paradigm change is proposed, based on a distinction between three levels of linguistic organization (the sign/Level 1, the category/Level 2, and the dimension/Level 3), and two types of change (neutralization and differentiation), thus distinguishing six types of paradigm change. Examples of these types (taken from the pertinent literature) are discussed, and two questions are addressed in each case: (i) To what extent does contact-induced paradigm change of a specific type differ from internal change? (ii) What are (potentially) the underlying cognitive processes motivating each type of change? The hypothesis is explored that there is a correlation between the three levels of analysis and three types of cognitive processes involved in paradigm change. It is suggested that change at Level 1 is typically based on analogy, change at Level 2 is often sensitive to frequency of use, and change at Level 3 may imply conceptual transfer, as discussed in recent work on weak relativity effects in the context of bilingual cognition
/l/-Vokalisierung in der Steiermark
Get PDFAus dialektologischer Sicht sind weite Teile der Steiermark (abzüglich der Weststeiermark, die alleine südbairisch geprägt ist) ein Übergangsbereich zwischen dem Mittel- und Südbairischen (vgl. Kranzmayer 1956: 1; Hilfskarte 1). Grob gesprochen, können die Ober- und Südsteiermark traditionell aufgrund mehrerer Variablen eingeteilt werden, eines davon ist die unterschiedliche Produktion des silbenfinalen Laterales (vgl. Kranzmayer 1956: Karte 26). In der Obersteiermark wird der Lateral vokalisiert, im Süden retroflex ausgesprochen (vgl. Haas 1983: 1112). Der Vokalisierung des Laterales trägt ein höheres, interdialektales Prestige, das alveolare (bis leicht retroflex gebildete) /l/ ist der Laut des Standards. Es wird im vorliegenden Beitrag untersucht, ob sich die /l/-Vokalisierung in südliche Landesteile ausbreitet.In der Landeshauptstadt Graz werden Dialektvarianten von vielen Sprechern vermieden und vermehrt der klare, alveolare Lateral artikuliert
Selective accent revival in Liverpool
Get PDFDespite the considerable stigma attached to it, many people in Liverpool have the impression that Scouse, the local accent, is getting stronger. This paper reports an apparent time study investigating whether young Liverpudlians use local variants of two consonantal variables (/ŋ(g)/ and lenition of /k/) more than older speakers and whether increased usage can be linked to decreasing salience. The data suggest that younger speakers are only “more Scouse” with respect to /k/, the variable that is part of the stereotype of the accent. The salience of this feature is actually increasing, so a very strong desire to express a local identity is a more probable cause for the change
The Reanalysis of German -end as a Marker of Gender-Sensitive Language Use. A Process of Exaptation
Get PDFThis article demonstrates the emergence of a new grammatical marker which has the function of expressing gender-sensitive language use. We propose that this linguistic innovation is a product of an individual’s use of language rather han a result of intentional planning. Both language-internal and language-external factors lead to linguistic innovations. This claim reflects that of Keller (2003), who explains that there is, on a macro-level, a spontaneous order triggered by concrete language use on a micro-level. To give an example, the participle suffix -end is currently used to meet the maxims of gender-sensitive language use. This is clearly a morphological innovation. What we thus observe is a process of reanalysis which can be interpreted as exaptation in the evolutionary sense of the word’s meaning. Exaptation means the evolution of a new function on the basis of an old form (see Gould/Vrba 1982; Simon 2010). In this article, we will demonstrate with select case studies from reformulated texts found in legal documents (e.g. the German Road Traffic Act) and study regulations that the present participle suffix -end (‘-ing’) is reanalysed in order to highlight gender-sensitive language use. Furthermore, this article will address the insistent dominance of the generic masculine in language. It seems that the generic masculine is a basic and highly economic grammatical category, verifiable not only in already engendered nouns but also in pronouns. The dominance of generic-masculine forms is also evidence for the great importance of generic language use in general
From dialectal to standard feature: the case of the Macedonian habere-perfect
Get PDFThe paper deals with a sweeping language change that is underway in the standard Macedonian verbal system: functional redistribution of the two perfect constructions. The contact-induced and dialectal habere-perfect is spreading into the functional zone of the inherited resultative Slavic esse-perfect, freeing the latter to specialize for its inferential, reportative, admirative and other non-factual meanings. Originally a marginal dialectal form, the habere-perfect has become the main exponent of resultative meanings in Macedonian. The authors find regular patterning behind the continuing expansion of the habere-perfect into the standard registers and examine the factors influencing this process. The comparison of the results of the two investigations conducted demonstrates that the habere-perfect is gaining ground in the standard language along the established grammaticalization path