Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks

A special issue of Languages (ISSN 2226-471X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 16277

Special Issue Editors

Department of Linguistics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Interests: cognitive linguistics; corpus linguistics; language change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Interests: corpus linguistics; contrastive linguistics; language variation
1. Department of Linguistics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
2. Research Foundation – Flanders, Brussels, Belgium
Interests: linguistic typology; corpus linguistics; sociolinguistics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few decades, we have witnessed a proliferation of studies regarding phenomena such as grammaticalization, lexicalization and, more recently, constructionalization. According to their most basic definitions, these notions refer to different phenomena of language change which typically begin with a lexical form with a concrete meaning and end, respectively, in a grammatical unit or zero, a new lexical unit, or a fixed grammatical pattern or construction. Extensive bibliographies reflect ongoing discussions concerning every possible aspect of these linguistic processes, including basic terminology and their internal relationships. Yet, a common feature of grammaticalization theories is that they explain particular cases of changing grammar primarily as being a consequence of concrete language use. As a consequence, new knowledge regarding the nature of the phenomenon can best be gathered by closely studying particular phenomena in empirical data from different languages and incorporating insights from different frameworks.

Therefore, the main purpose of this Special Issue consists of reporting on new and current interests and developments in this well-established but continuously evolving research field.

First, the research field has experienced a surge in studies regarding different languages with different typological profiles and genealogical affiliations since the 1980s. Notable progress has been made in mapping out cross-linguistically recurring grammaticalization paths, leading to the proposal of several clines or hierarchies based on broad, comparative data. Nevertheless, the vast majority of studies are concerned with phenomena in particular languages, often based on ever-larger corpora. Somewhat unsurprisingly, most progress has been made by studying grammaticalization in those languages for which the most (historical) data are available, which tend to be European languages (e.g., Romance or Germanic). This does not detract, however, from the fact that the field has been diversifying. For example, since the turn of the century, an increasing amount of research has been conducted on grammaticalization phenomena in sign languages, which are otherwise underrepresented in the linguistic literature, and on the comparison of grammaticalization in spoken and signed languages.

Second, grammaticalization has been studied in relation to different levels of linguistic analysis. Originally, the first studies mainly focused on the (morpho)syntactic aspects of grammaticalization. As such, it was essentially conceived of as a morphosyntactic change in reduction. Other scholars, on the contrary, have highlighted not only the loss, but also the semantic gain involved in the process. More recent approaches even go beyond the level of (morpho)syntax and semantics and enter the realm of discourse in order to study grammaticalization in actual instances of spoken conversation and with relation to more general cognitive abilities involved in the speaker–addressee negotiation. Thus, both form and meaning are treated with equal weight, and meaning is understood in a broad sense to include not only lexical meaning but also discourse function, information structure, and other pragmatic phenomena.

Last but not least, knowledge on the nature of grammaticalization processes can further be refined by integrating new insights from appropriate theoretical frameworks. The idea of ‘emerging grammar’ (partially) explains why grammaticalization has mainly developed in parallel with the emergence and expansion of the cognitive and functional linguistics enterprise. Indeed, besides describing the formal paths of grammaticalization, researchers have been increasingly interested in the motivations behind these processes and the question of why these changes occurred. Hence, increasing attention has been paid to the functional meaning of grammaticalization, comprising different semantic and pragmatic accounts. From the beginning of the 21st century onwards, there have been proposals to study diachronic change from the perspective of construction grammar. However, most works on ‘constructionalization’ stipulate that it does not fundamentally differ from former grammaticalization studies, but that the advantage of this theory lies in its overarching approach to phenomena of lexical and grammatical change. Moreover, the introduction of the theoretical notion of construction has created the possibility of measuring with greater precision the gradualness of the grammatical change, including studies regarding productivity.

In short, we welcome a wide range of (relevant) topics, which may include but are not limited to:

  • Grammaticalization at different levels of linguistic analysis (morphosyntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse-related phenomena);
  • Grammaticalization as observed in different kinds of corpora, including spoken data;
  • Grammaticalization across languages, including sign languages;
  • Experimental approaches to grammaticalization.

Relevant papers regarding all languages from different frameworks are welcome.

Interested authors are requested to submit a proposed title and an abstract of around 500 words summarizing their intended contribution, prior to preparing their manuscripts. Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors and the journal's editorial team, and then full manuscripts will be solicited. Please send the abstract to Tom.Bossuyt@UGent.be and languages@mdpi.com. Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Prof. Dr. Renata Enghels
Dr. Marlies Jansegers
Guest Editors

Tom Bossuyt
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • grammaticalization
  • language change
  • typology
  • lexicalization
  • constructionalization
  • productivity
  • corpus studies
  • cross-linguistics approaches

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 3424 KiB  
Article
Constructing Meaning: Historical Changes in mihi est and habeo Constructions in Romanian
by Mihaela Ilioaia
Languages 2024, 9(2), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9020038 - 24 Jan 2024
Viewed by 836
Abstract
In this article, I address the evolution of the competition between two Latin patterns, habeo and mihi est, in Romanian. As opposed to the other Romance languages, which replace the mihi est pattern with habeo in possessor and experiencer contexts, Romanian maintains both [...] Read more.
In this article, I address the evolution of the competition between two Latin patterns, habeo and mihi est, in Romanian. As opposed to the other Romance languages, which replace the mihi est pattern with habeo in possessor and experiencer contexts, Romanian maintains both Latin patterns. The general evolution of these patterns in the Romance languages is well known, however, a detailed usage-based account is currently lacking. Building on the theoretical findings on the role of functional competition in linguistic change, the rivalry between the two patterns in Romanian has already been argued to have settled in terms of differentiation, with each of the two forms specializing in different functional domains by Vangaever and Ilioaia in 2021 in their study “Specialisation through competition: habeo vs. mihi est from Latin to Romanian“. With this idea as a starting point, I investigate, by means of a diachronic corpus study, whether the dynamics in the inventory of state nouns occurring in these constructions can affect their evolution and productivity. The preliminary results show that this is indeed the case. Concomitantly, I explore whether the historical changes that the two patterns have undergone over the centuries can be described in terms of grammaticalization, constructionalization, or in terms of constructional change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
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20 pages, 484 KiB  
Article
Diverging Grammaticalization Patterns across Spanish Varieties: The Case of perdón in Mexican and Peninsular Spanish
by Marlies Jansegers, Chantal Melis and Jennie Elenor Arrington Báez
Languages 2024, 9(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9010013 - 25 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1545
Abstract
This study investigates the contemporary grammaticalized uses of perdón (‘sorry’) in two varieties of Spanish, namely Mexican and Peninsular Spanish. Methodologically, the investigation is based on a taxonomy of offenses, organized around the concept of ‘face’ and based on spoken data of Spanish [...] Read more.
This study investigates the contemporary grammaticalized uses of perdón (‘sorry’) in two varieties of Spanish, namely Mexican and Peninsular Spanish. Methodologically, the investigation is based on a taxonomy of offenses, organized around the concept of ‘face’ and based on spoken data of Spanish from Mexico and Spain. This taxonomy turns out to be a fruitful methodological tool for the analysis of apologetic markers: it does not only offer usage-based evidence for previous theorizing concerning the grammaticalization process of apologetic markers, but also leads to a refinement of these previous results from a contrastive point of view. Evidence from both corpora suggests a more advanced stage in the grammaticalization process of perdón in Mexican Spanish, where it can be used not only as a self-face-saving device geared towards the positive face of the speaker, but also in turn-taking contexts oriented towards the negative face of the interlocutor. Peninsular Spanish, on the other hand, resorts to a more varied gamut of apologetic markers in these contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
25 pages, 1114 KiB  
Article
Paths of Constructionalization in Peninsular Spanish: The Development of “Pues Eso”. A 20th Century Case
by Shima Salameh Jiménez
Languages 2023, 8(4), 289; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8040289 - 18 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1088
Abstract
This paper explores the evolution of the conversational formula pues eso in Peninsular Spanish through the framework of constructionalization, so as to describe how form–meaning pairings have been consolidated. Additionally, the Val.Es.Co. model for discourse segmentation is introduced as part of the form [...] Read more.
This paper explores the evolution of the conversational formula pues eso in Peninsular Spanish through the framework of constructionalization, so as to describe how form–meaning pairings have been consolidated. Additionally, the Val.Es.Co. model for discourse segmentation is introduced as part of the form pole in the construction. The findings suggest that PE has become a consolidated parenthetical, procedural device during the 20th century, but that previous centuries are also key in understanding how the new functions were developed from pues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
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15 pages, 429 KiB  
Article
From Peripheral Structure to Discourse Operator: No Veas
by Catalina Fuentes Rodríguez
Languages 2023, 8(4), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8040254 - 25 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1027
Abstract
This work describes the cooptation/grammaticalization process developed by the expression no veas. The hypothesis it defends, endorsed by previous research, considers that in this process, this expression appears in different constructions, originally integrated in the clause or peripheral, and is involved in [...] Read more.
This work describes the cooptation/grammaticalization process developed by the expression no veas. The hypothesis it defends, endorsed by previous research, considers that in this process, this expression appears in different constructions, originally integrated in the clause or peripheral, and is involved in a process of fixation towards pragmatic markers. The parenthetical distribution is fundamental to this subjectification and constructionalizationss. In some cases, the cooptation process has not ended, and constructions can act as semi-fixed patterns. These constructions provide procedural content but, at the same time, allow lexical choice in part of their structure. In other cases, we are already dealing with fixed markers. The Spanish structure no veas can appear as a free verbal construction (“No veas tanto la televisión” (don’t watch television so much)), as a semi-free intensification construction (“no veas lo enfadado que está” (you wouldn’t believe how angry he is), “está gritando que no veas” (he’s shouting like you wouldn’t believe)), or as a discourse operator (“El campo está lleno, no veas” (the stadium’s full, unbelievable)). In the latter case, the structure appears peripheral and displays a high degree of mobility (it could be inserted at the beginning of the utterance or appear in an intermediate position, not just at the end) and functions as a modal operator of surprise (a mirative) or a comment with intensifying meaning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
25 pages, 3299 KiB  
Article
Combinatorial Productivity of Spanish Verbal Periphrases as an Indicator of Their Degree of Grammaticalization
by Mar Garachana and María Sol Sansiñena
Languages 2023, 8(3), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8030187 - 07 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1002
Abstract
Studies on the constitution of the Spanish periphrastic system show that there is a great ease with which verbal periphrases admit different lexical items in the second verb slot as they go through their grammaticalization process. However, it has not been sufficiently explored [...] Read more.
Studies on the constitution of the Spanish periphrastic system show that there is a great ease with which verbal periphrases admit different lexical items in the second verb slot as they go through their grammaticalization process. However, it has not been sufficiently explored whether the evolution of combinatorial patterns in near-synonymous periphrases follows similar grammaticalization paths. Adopting a constructionist, usage-based approach, we investigate the evolution of the so-called near-synonymous periphrases dejar de + inf and parar de + inf, as in Deja de/Para de gritar, ‘Stop shouting.’ More specifically, we discuss the semantic areas they cover, the functional distribution between the two throughout time, their evolution in terms of collostructional patterns, and their realized and potential productivity, paying special attention to the Aktionsart of the predicates in the Vinf slot. All tokens in the corpus were extracted from CORDE and analyzed in terms of morphosyntactic and semantic-pragmatic parameters, as well as contextual elements. We conduct a distinctive collexeme analysis to investigate which lexemes are strongly attracted or repelled by the Vinf slot in each construction. This analysis shows that the evolution of parar de + inf is not parallel to that of dejar de + inf and that there is a clear distribution of labor between the two constructions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
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20 pages, 506 KiB  
Article
Clitic Placement and the Grammaticalization of the Future and the Conditional in Old Catalan
by Aina Torres-Latorre and Andreu Sentí
Languages 2023, 8(3), 182; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8030182 - 28 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1360
Abstract
The romance future and conditional tenses are the result of the grammaticalization of Latin periphrasis, mainly cantāre habeō. In some medieval Romance languages, including Catalan, two types of forms existed: synthetic forms (faré ‘I will do’) and analytical forms (fer-lo [...] Read more.
The romance future and conditional tenses are the result of the grammaticalization of Latin periphrasis, mainly cantāre habeō. In some medieval Romance languages, including Catalan, two types of forms existed: synthetic forms (faré ‘I will do’) and analytical forms (fer-lo he ‘I will do it’). Analytical forms do not present univerbation and are thus less grammaticalized than synthetic forms. The present work aims to study the distribution of synthetic and analytical forms diachronically. A diachronic corpus (11th c.–16th c.) was compiled to serve this purpose. According to the syntactic restrictions of clitic placement, analytical forms could appear in the same syntactic environments than synthetic forms with postverbal pronouns (faré-lo ‘I will do it’). Therefore, only those contexts are analysed to assess the degree of grammaticalization. Some recent works point out that the grammaticalization of future and conditional was more advanced in the eastern languages of the Iberian Peninsula, such as Catalan, than in the western ones. The results from our corpus confirm these differences. In addition, the data show another grammaticalization process: the evolution of clitic placement towards a fixed preverbal position. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
32 pages, 5127 KiB  
Article
Numeral Incorporation as Grammaticalization? A Corpus Study on German Sign Language (DGS)
by Felicitas Otte, Anke Müller, Sabrina Wähl and Gabriele Langer
Languages 2023, 8(2), 153; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8020153 - 19 Jun 2023
Viewed by 2027
Abstract
Numeral incorporation describes the merging of a numeral sign with a lexical sign to create a single sign with a compositional meaning, e.g., “three weeks.” As a phenomenon of simultaneous morphology, numeral incorporation is unique to sign languages. While researchers disagree on the [...] Read more.
Numeral incorporation describes the merging of a numeral sign with a lexical sign to create a single sign with a compositional meaning, e.g., “three weeks.” As a phenomenon of simultaneous morphology, numeral incorporation is unique to sign languages. While researchers disagree on the exact morphological structure of the construction, it has, thus far, mainly been described as a synchronic, phonological phenomenon. Using the DGS corpus, a language resource on German Sign Language, we explore the possibility of numeral incorporation resulting from a language change process, specifically a grammaticalization process. Our dataset comprises tokens belonging to nine different signs that may occur in numeral incorporations. We find a cline of three constructions in the corpus, which shows a progression from free morpheme to cliticized morpheme to bound morpheme (affix). A comparison of the usage frequency of the three constructions in different age groups reveals that signers use more incorporations the younger they are. Following the apparent time approach, these observations are taken as indicators of diachronic language change. We describe to what extent the properties of numeral incorporation fit with the grammaticalization hypothesis and conclude that while the emergence of numeral incorporation is an instance of language change and shows some aspects seen in grammaticalization, the gradual change fails to exhibit some crucial aspects of grammaticalization and, thus, should not be regarded as an example thereof. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
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24 pages, 497 KiB  
Article
From Motion to Causation: The Diachrony of the Spanish Causative Constructions with traer (‘Bring’) and llevar (‘Take’)
by Julio Torres Soler and Renata Enghels
Languages 2023, 8(2), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8020122 - 30 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1594
Abstract
This paper describes the historical evolution of the Spanish causative micro-constructions with the motion verbs llevar (‘take’) and traer (‘bring’) (e.g., el miedo llevó al ladrón a cometer un error, ‘the fear caused the thief to make a mistake’). In order to [...] Read more.
This paper describes the historical evolution of the Spanish causative micro-constructions with the motion verbs llevar (‘take’) and traer (‘bring’) (e.g., el miedo llevó al ladrón a cometer un error, ‘the fear caused the thief to make a mistake’). In order to reconstruct the historical development of these micro-constructions between the 13th and 20th centuries, all causative uses of llevar and traer were extracted from the Corpus del Diccionario Histórico. This corpus was annotated for a series of formal and semantic parameters that count as indexes of grammaticalization, and was submitted to a quantitative productivity analysis. The results point to the existence of a subschema formed of verbs of caused accompanied motion, which has semantically specialized in the expression of indirect causation. From a formal point of view, this subschema is characterized by a low level of syntactic incorporation of the causative verb and the infinitive. In addition, it is shown that the productivity of the causative micro-constructions under study is determined by semantic changes experienced by llevar and traer as full lexical verbs during the history of Spanish. The late development of the micro-construction with llevar is explained by the initial tendency of this verb to express motion events not bounded by an endpoint. From the 16th century onwards, the decline in the micro-construction with traer and the rise in the micro-construction with llevar results from the consolidation of the deictic meaning of the verb pair. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
23 pages, 1468 KiB  
Article
Productivity from a Metapragmatic Perspective: Measuring the Diachronic Coverage of the Low Level Lexico-Grammatical Construction Have the N (Body Part/Attitude) to ↔<Metapragmatic Comment> Using the COHA
by Chris A. Smith
Languages 2023, 8(2), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8020092 - 23 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1123
Abstract
This paper seeks to address the relation between semantics, pragmatics and the productivity of a low level lexico-grammatical construction, Have the N (body part/attitude) to ↔metapragmatic comment. The question posed is how semantics affects productivity, in the generative sense of extensibility of a [...] Read more.
This paper seeks to address the relation between semantics, pragmatics and the productivity of a low level lexico-grammatical construction, Have the N (body part/attitude) to ↔metapragmatic comment. The question posed is how semantics affects productivity, in the generative sense of extensibility of a construction (a form meaning pairing). The method identifies the specificity and variations of the Have the N (body part/attitude) to ↔metapragmatic comment construction within the pragmeme of politeness using the COHA. Hereafter, we consider how to measure the extensibility within the onomasiological frame based on the available pool of forms expressing an attitude/emotion, i.e., the coverage or attractivity of the Have the N to construction. The paper discusses the findings, namely, how to overcome methodological issues relating to a qualitative rather than quantitative approach to the constructional architecture and the relative productivity of constructions. The experimental small scale corpus study of Have the N to in the COHA suggests that a global view of constructional architecture at multiple levels should be pertinent to identifying the extensibility potential of the construction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
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19 pages, 351 KiB  
Article
Not Only Anteriority in the Past: The Functions of the Pluperfect in Spoken Italian
by Eleonora Morei
Languages 2023, 8(1), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8010082 - 13 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1177
Abstract
Three distinct anaphoric functions and one deictic function are, with fair confidence, associated with the Italian Pluperfect in the existing literature. In recent studies, it has been hypothesized that the Italian Pluperfect may also have an aoristic use. The present study attempts to [...] Read more.
Three distinct anaphoric functions and one deictic function are, with fair confidence, associated with the Italian Pluperfect in the existing literature. In recent studies, it has been hypothesized that the Italian Pluperfect may also have an aoristic use. The present study attempts to assess the semantics of the Italian Pluperfect, by a corpus-based methodology. It will be shown that the data do not support the hypothesis of an aoristic use of the Pluperfect: rather, they suggest the need to extend the analysis of the Pluperfect’s semantics to domains other than tense and aspect. It will be argued that (inter)subjectification may have a key role in describing the layered semantics of the Italian Pluperfect, especially concerning its possible modal-evidential developments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
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14 pages, 6852 KiB  
Article
The Grammaticalization of the Discourse Marker genre in Swiss French
by Delin Deng
Languages 2023, 8(1), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8010028 - 16 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1305
Abstract
By conducting an apparent-time analysis of the OFROM corpus collected in Francophone Switzerland, this study examined the use of genre as discourse marker in the speech of 306 French L1 speakers. First, we examined the effect of extralinguistic factors on the discursive use [...] Read more.
By conducting an apparent-time analysis of the OFROM corpus collected in Francophone Switzerland, this study examined the use of genre as discourse marker in the speech of 306 French L1 speakers. First, we examined the effect of extralinguistic factors on the discursive use of genre. The logistic mixed-effects regression analysis results revealed that the emerging use of genre is indeed an ongoing change led by female speakers in Swiss French. This use was favored by monolinguals in Francophone Swiss. Second, we examined the vowel reduction of the DM genre in the corpus. Our results revealed that speakers who received only a high school education favor the vowel reduction in the DM genre the most. Given the high percentage of phonological reduction in the DM genre, we believe that the grammaticalization of this particle has reached its advanced stage in Swiss French. Compared to previous findings on the emerging use of genre in Hexagonal French, we suggested that the grammaticalization of the particle genre in Swiss French may be independent of that in Hexagonal French. The grammaticalization in Swiss French was much more advanced than in Hexagonal French. This study supplied comparable results on the grammaticalization of the same particle in two different Francophone countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
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