Startseite Chapter 6. Category change in the English gerund
Kapitel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

Chapter 6. Category change in the English gerund

Tangled web or fine-tuned constructional network?
  • Lauren Fonteyn und Liesbet Heyvaert
Weitere Titel anzeigen von John Benjamins Publishing Company
Suche
Category Change from a Constructional Perspective
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Category Change from a Constructional Perspective

Abstract

This study considers the diachronic categorial shift from nominal (NG) to verbal gerunds (VG) in Middle English in terms of Langacker’s functional account of noun phrases and clauses as ‘deictic expressions’. The analysis shows that the Middle English gerund was essentially formally nominal but functionally hybrid, thus exhibiting ‘form-function friction’. This friction furthered a split in the gerundive system between a verbal component associated with clausal deixis, alongside a nominal component, which specialized in nominal deixis; but this split is not absolute. The constructionist idea of language as a network of (inter)paradigmatically connected constructions helps to explain why the verbal gerund seems to simultaneously drift away from and again partake in the deictic behaviour of the nominal category.

Abstract

This study considers the diachronic categorial shift from nominal (NG) to verbal gerunds (VG) in Middle English in terms of Langacker’s functional account of noun phrases and clauses as ‘deictic expressions’. The analysis shows that the Middle English gerund was essentially formally nominal but functionally hybrid, thus exhibiting ‘form-function friction’. This friction furthered a split in the gerundive system between a verbal component associated with clausal deixis, alongside a nominal component, which specialized in nominal deixis; but this split is not absolute. The constructionist idea of language as a network of (inter)paradigmatically connected constructions helps to explain why the verbal gerund seems to simultaneously drift away from and again partake in the deictic behaviour of the nominal category.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Part I. Introduction
  5. Chapter 1. Category change from a constructional perspective 3
  6. Part II. Category genesis
  7. Chapter 2. Category genesis in Chitimacha 15
  8. Chapter 3. Derivation without category change 47
  9. Part III. Category change in syntactic constructions
  10. Chapter 4. Grammaticalization, host-class expansion and category change 93
  11. Chapter 5. Why would anyone take long ? 119
  12. Chapter 6. Category change in the English gerund 149
  13. Chapter 7. The emergence of a new adverbial downtoner 179
  14. Part IV. Category change in morphological constructions
  15. Chapter 8. Category change in construction morphology 209
  16. Chapter 9. Evaluative morphology in German, Dutch and Swedish 229
  17. Chapter 10. Constructional change on the contentful-procedural gradient 263
  18. Part V. Discussion
  19. Chapter 11. Change in category membership from the perspective of construction grammar 291
  20. Construction index 309
  21. Subject index 311
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.20.06fon

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Part I. Introduction
  5. Chapter 1. Category change from a constructional perspective 3
  6. Part II. Category genesis
  7. Chapter 2. Category genesis in Chitimacha 15
  8. Chapter 3. Derivation without category change 47
  9. Part III. Category change in syntactic constructions
  10. Chapter 4. Grammaticalization, host-class expansion and category change 93
  11. Chapter 5. Why would anyone take long ? 119
  12. Chapter 6. Category change in the English gerund 149
  13. Chapter 7. The emergence of a new adverbial downtoner 179
  14. Part IV. Category change in morphological constructions
  15. Chapter 8. Category change in construction morphology 209
  16. Chapter 9. Evaluative morphology in German, Dutch and Swedish 229
  17. Chapter 10. Constructional change on the contentful-procedural gradient 263
  18. Part V. Discussion
  19. Chapter 11. Change in category membership from the perspective of construction grammar 291
  20. Construction index 309
  21. Subject index 311
Jetzt anmelden und 20% sparen
Institutioneller Zugang
Wie funktioniert Authentifizierung?
Haben Sie eine Idee, wie wir unsere Website verbessern können?
Bitte schreiben Sie uns.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Heruntergeladen am 20.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/cal.20.06fon/html
Button zum nach oben scrollen