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Putting grammaticalization to the iconicity test

A cognitivist perspective
  • Paul Bouissac
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Insistent Images
This chapter is in the book Insistent Images

Abstract

This chapter questions the premises of the theory of grammaticalization which claims that “abstract” grammatical morphemes derive from “concrete” lexical items through a process of phonetic and semantic attrition. This theory generally assumes that language is grounded in iconicity. Thus, questioning the latter also puts the former to a test. The first section presents arguments against the notion of lexical “concreteness”. The second raises the issue of whether the “abstractness” of grammar is an artifact of pedagogical discourse or truly reflects the nature of grammatical relations. The third part proposes to frame the problems that gave rise to the notion of grammaticalization in an utterance-based perspective inspired by the cognitivist approach to language. The conclusion attempts to explain why contemporary linguistics has taken the form of a mosaic of theories that are often difficult to reconcile.

Abstract

This chapter questions the premises of the theory of grammaticalization which claims that “abstract” grammatical morphemes derive from “concrete” lexical items through a process of phonetic and semantic attrition. This theory generally assumes that language is grounded in iconicity. Thus, questioning the latter also puts the former to a test. The first section presents arguments against the notion of lexical “concreteness”. The second raises the issue of whether the “abstractness” of grammar is an artifact of pedagogical discourse or truly reflects the nature of grammatical relations. The third part proposes to frame the problems that gave rise to the notion of grammaticalization in an utterance-based perspective inspired by the cognitivist approach to language. The conclusion attempts to explain why contemporary linguistics has taken the form of a mosaic of theories that are often difficult to reconcile.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface and acknowledgements vii
  4. List of Contributors ix
  5. Introduction: Insistent Images 1
  6. PART I. Iconicity and grammaticalization
  7. Putting grammaticalization to the iconicity test 17
  8. Iconic thumbs, pinkies and pointers 37
  9. PART II. Iconicity and the aural
  10. The physical basis for phonological iconicity 57
  11. Reading aloud and Charles Dickens’ aural iconic prose style 73
  12. Iconicity and the divine in the fin de siècle poetry of W.B. Yeats 91
  13. Is lámatyáve a linguistic heresy? 103
  14. PART III. Iconicity and the visual
  15. The beauty of life and the variety of signs 113
  16. Forms of restricted iconicity in modern avant-garde poetry 129
  17. Eco-Iconicity in the poetry and poem-groups of E.E. Cummings 155
  18. The language of film is a matrix of icons 173
  19. Liberature 191
  20. PART IV. Iconicity and conceptualization
  21. Meaning on the one and on the other hand 211
  22. Iconic text strategies 229
  23. ‘Damn mad’ 247
  24. PART V. Iconicity and structure
  25. Iconicity and the grammar–lexis interface 269
  26. Iconicity in the coding of pragmatic functions 289
  27. Double negation and iconicity 301
  28. PART VI. Iconicity and multimedia / intertextuality
  29. Iconicity in multimedia performance 323
  30. Author index 347
  31. Subject index 353
https://doi.org/10.1075/ill.5.05bou

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface and acknowledgements vii
  4. List of Contributors ix
  5. Introduction: Insistent Images 1
  6. PART I. Iconicity and grammaticalization
  7. Putting grammaticalization to the iconicity test 17
  8. Iconic thumbs, pinkies and pointers 37
  9. PART II. Iconicity and the aural
  10. The physical basis for phonological iconicity 57
  11. Reading aloud and Charles Dickens’ aural iconic prose style 73
  12. Iconicity and the divine in the fin de siècle poetry of W.B. Yeats 91
  13. Is lámatyáve a linguistic heresy? 103
  14. PART III. Iconicity and the visual
  15. The beauty of life and the variety of signs 113
  16. Forms of restricted iconicity in modern avant-garde poetry 129
  17. Eco-Iconicity in the poetry and poem-groups of E.E. Cummings 155
  18. The language of film is a matrix of icons 173
  19. Liberature 191
  20. PART IV. Iconicity and conceptualization
  21. Meaning on the one and on the other hand 211
  22. Iconic text strategies 229
  23. ‘Damn mad’ 247
  24. PART V. Iconicity and structure
  25. Iconicity and the grammar–lexis interface 269
  26. Iconicity in the coding of pragmatic functions 289
  27. Double negation and iconicity 301
  28. PART VI. Iconicity and multimedia / intertextuality
  29. Iconicity in multimedia performance 323
  30. Author index 347
  31. Subject index 353
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