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This book brings together a series of contributions to the study of
grammaticalization of tense, aspect, and modality from a functional
perspective. All contributions share the aim to uncover the
functional motivations behind the processes of grammaticalization
under discussion, but they do so from different points of view.
This textbook introduces and explains the fundamental issues, major
research questions, and current approaches in the study of
grammaticalization - the development of new grammatical forms from
lexical items, and of further grammatical functions from existing
grammatical forms. Grammaticalization has been a vibrant research
field in recent years, and has proven effective in explaining a
wide range of phenomena; it has even been claimed that the only
true language universals are diachronic, and are related to
cross-linguistic processes of grammaticalization. The chapters
provide a detailed account of the major issues in the field:
foundational questions such as directionality, criteria and
parameters of grammaticalization, and phases and cycles; the
much-debated issue of the motivations behind grammaticalization,
including the role of language contact and typological influences;
the advantages and disadvantages of different theoretical
approaches; and the relationship between grammaticalization and
process such as lexicalization, exaptation, and the development of
discourse markers. Each chapter offers guidance on further reading,
and concludes with study questions to encourage further discussion;
there is also a glossary of key terminology in the field. Thanks to
its comprehensive approach, the volume will serve as both a
textbook for undergraduate and graduate students and a valuable
reference work for researchers in the field.
This book brings together a series of contributions to the study of
grammaticalization of tense, aspect, and modality from a functional
perspective. All contributions share the aim to uncover the
functional motivations behind the processes of grammaticalization
under discussion, but they do so from different points of view.
Extensively revised and updated, this second edition provides, in
an A-Z format, an analysis of the most important generalizations
that have been made on the unidirectional change of grammatical
forms and constructions. Based on the analysis of more than 1,000
languages, it reconstructs over 500 processes of grammatical change
in the languages of the world, including East Asian languages such
as Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Readers are provided with the
tools to discover how lexical and grammatical meanings can be
related to one another in a principled way, how such issues as
polysemy, heterosemy, and transcategoriality are dealt with, and
why certain linguistic forms have simultaneous lexical and
grammatical functions. Definitions of lexical concepts are provided
with examples from a broad variety of languages, and references to
key relevant research literature. Linguists and other scholars will
gain a better understanding of languages on a worldwide scale.
This book is a cross-linguistic exploration of semantic and
functional change in modal markers. Its approach is broadly
functional typological but makes frequent reference to work in
formal semantics by scholars such as Angelika Kratzer and Paul
Portner. The author starts by considering what modality is and how
it relates to and differs from subjectivity. He argues that
modality cannot be defined in terms of subjectivity: both concepts
are independent of each other, the first exhibiting different
degrees of subjectivity, and the second being operative in a much
wider range of grammatical and lexical categories. Subjectivity, he
suggests, should not be defined solely in terms of performativity,
evidentiality, or construal, but rather from the interplay of
multiple semantic and pragmatic factors. He then presents a
two-dimensional model for the descriptive representation of
modality, based on the notion that among the many aspects of modal
meaning, volitivity and speech-act-orientation versus
event-orientation are two of its most salient parameters. He shows
that it is especially the dimension of speech-act orientation
versus event-orientation, parallel to category climbing in syntax,
that is operative in diachronic change. Numerous examples of
diachronic change within modality and between modality and other
categories are then examined with respect to their directionality.
With a focus on Japanese and to a lesser extent Chinese the book is
a countercheck to hypotheses built on the Indo-European languages.
It also contains numerous illustrations from other languages.
This book presents the state of the art in research on
grammaticalization, the process by which lexical items acquire
grammatical function, grammatical items get additional functions,
and grammars are created. Leading scholars from around the world
introduce and discuss the core theoretical and methodological bases
of grammaticalization, report on work in the field, and point to
promising directions for new research. They represent every
relevant theoretical perspective and approach.
Research on grammaticalization and its role in linguistic change
encompasses work on languages from every major linguistic family.
Its results offer valuable insights for all theoretical frameworks,
including generative, construction, and cognitive grammar, and
relates to work in fields such as phonology, sociolinguistics, and
language acquisition. The handbook provides a full, critical
assessment of every aspect of this research. It is divided into
five parts, of which the first two are devoted to theory and
method, the third and fourth to work in linguistic domains,
classes, and cateogories, and the fifth to case studies of
grammaticalization in a range of languages. It will be an
indispensable source of information and inspiration for all those
who wish to know more about this fascinating and important field.
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