1,585 research outputs found
The grammaticalization of negative indefinites: the case of the temporal-aspectual n-words 'mais' and 'plus' in Medieval French
No full textThis chapter traces the diachronic evolution in Medieval French of two temporal/aspectual n-words of adverbial origin, the markers mais (<Lat. MAGIS ‘more, to a greater degree’) and plus (<Lat. PLUS ‘more’), equivalent to English no more/no longer, anymore/any longer, with a view to addressing two theoretical issues: (i) whether the evolution of indefinites is unidirectional, as claimed by Haspelmath (1997), or rather subject to a “random diachronic walk”, as suggested by Jäger (2010); (ii) whether the evolution of the French n-words can be described in terms of a general cyclical development parallel to that of the standard clause negator (commonly known as Jespersen’s Cycle). It is argued that, like those reported in Hansen (2012), the results of this study support the random walk hypothesis, and weakens the case for a quantifier cycle in French. Moreover, the results of the two studies suggest that functional categories, or paradigms, are pragmatic, rather than linguistic, entities
A new look at grammaticalization vs pragmaticalization in the rise of pragmatic markers::a typology of linear and nonlinear forms of evolution
No full textThis chapter addresses the diachronic evolution of pragmatic markers. It proposes a typology of forms of pragmaticalization, which—besides ‘linear’ pragmaticalization, which appears to be typical of the evolution of discourse markers—includes four non-linear forms:(i) Grammatico-pragmaticalization, which is argued to be characteristic ofso-called modal particles.(ii) Pragmaticalization-to-lexicalization spirals.(iii) Micro-cycles of pragmaticalization, comprising two subtypes: onomasiological versus semasiological cycles.(iv) Feature spirals.The chapter argues that because of the existence of these non-linear paths, it is unhelpful to subsume the rise of pragmatic markers under the concept of grammaticalization.Instead, the proposed model draws on a distinction between threemacropaths of change, namely grammaticalization, pragmaticalization, and lexicalization, which are not mutually exclusive. The three macropaths are defined by particular interactions between, on the one hand, two levels of meaning, and on the other hand, two levels of grammar. The argument is illustrated with examples from Romance languages
The grammaticalization of negative reinforcers in Old and Middle French::a discourse-functional approach
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Patterns of thanking in the closing section of UK service calls:marking conversational macro-structure vs managing interpersonal relations
No full textCyclic change in grammar and discourse:an introduction
No full textThis editors’ introduction to the volume sets the intellectual frame within which the original research contributions that follow should be read. We start by outlining the history of the notion of linguistic cycles from its earliest manifestations in the literature through to the most recent developments within both formalist and functional-cognitivist linguistics. In this same section, we propose working definitions of renewal cycles vs life cycles, and discuss terminological issues that are central to the field. Further, we discuss cyclic changes at different levels of linguistic description and the possible links between them. In the second half of the chapter, we explain the aims and objectives of the present volume, and how the individual chapters each contribute to addressing them. Finally, we briefly outline the structure of the volume and summarize the argument of each chapter
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