Grammaticalization of commencer/cominciare “to begin” in French and Italian
-
Jason Brazeal
Abstract
This study presents a synchronic and diachronic analysis of the French and Italian aspectualizers commencer and cominciare from the perspective of grammaticalization theory. They show properties of both full verbs and auxiliaries, and thus have traditionally proven difficult to analyze. It is argued that these aspectualizers are best explained by taking into account their historical development from Latin initiare “to initiate”. Synchronic and diachronic data are presented in order to locate them on the Verb-to-TAM chain, a continuum ranging from full lexical verbs on one end to purely grammatical tense, aspect, and mood affixes on the other. Their mixed semantic and syntactic properties are due to their position on the continuum between lexical verbs and auxiliaries. The differences between commencer and cominciare with respect to their degree of grammaticalization are also discussed. Key words: grammaticalization; aspectualizers; auxiliary; commencer; cominciare
Abstract
This study presents a synchronic and diachronic analysis of the French and Italian aspectualizers commencer and cominciare from the perspective of grammaticalization theory. They show properties of both full verbs and auxiliaries, and thus have traditionally proven difficult to analyze. It is argued that these aspectualizers are best explained by taking into account their historical development from Latin initiare “to initiate”. Synchronic and diachronic data are presented in order to locate them on the Verb-to-TAM chain, a continuum ranging from full lexical verbs on one end to purely grammatical tense, aspect, and mood affixes on the other. Their mixed semantic and syntactic properties are due to their position on the continuum between lexical verbs and auxiliaries. The differences between commencer and cominciare with respect to their degree of grammaticalization are also discussed. Key words: grammaticalization; aspectualizers; auxiliary; commencer; cominciare
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgements ix
- List of contributors xi
- Editors’ introduction 1
-
Part I. Phonetics/Phonology
- Correcting the record on Dominican [s]-hypercorrection 15
- V-to-V assimilation in trisyllabic words in French 25
- The production and provenance of palatal nasals in Portuguese and Spanish 43
- Lenition and phonemic contrast in Majorcan Catalan 63
- Alveolar laterals in Majorcan Spanish 81
- Units of speech production in Italian 95
- Pitch polarity in Palenquero 111
- Word-minimality and sound change in Hispano-Romance 129
- Multiple opacity in Eastern Regional French 153
-
Part II. Syntax
- Syntactic variation in Colombian Spanish 169
- Anaphoricity, logophoricity and intensification 187
- More on the clitic combination puzzle 203
- The Spanish dative alternation revisited 217
- Romanian genderless pronouns and parasitic gaps 231
- To agree or not to agree 249
- Variation in subject expression in Western Romance 267
- A phase-based analysis of Old French genitive constructions 285
- V2 loss in Old French and Old Occitan 301
-
Part III. Morphology, and interfaces
- The loss and survival of inflectional morphology 323
- Allomorphy in pre-clitic imperatives in Formenteran Catalan 337
- Preverbal vowels in wh-questions and declarative sentences in Northern Italian Piacentine dialects 353
- Pitch accent, focus, and the interpretation of non- wh exclamatives in French 369
- Detours along the perfect path 387
- Grammaticalization of commencer/cominciare “to begin” in French and Italian 405
- Index of subjects, terms and languages 423
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgements ix
- List of contributors xi
- Editors’ introduction 1
-
Part I. Phonetics/Phonology
- Correcting the record on Dominican [s]-hypercorrection 15
- V-to-V assimilation in trisyllabic words in French 25
- The production and provenance of palatal nasals in Portuguese and Spanish 43
- Lenition and phonemic contrast in Majorcan Catalan 63
- Alveolar laterals in Majorcan Spanish 81
- Units of speech production in Italian 95
- Pitch polarity in Palenquero 111
- Word-minimality and sound change in Hispano-Romance 129
- Multiple opacity in Eastern Regional French 153
-
Part II. Syntax
- Syntactic variation in Colombian Spanish 169
- Anaphoricity, logophoricity and intensification 187
- More on the clitic combination puzzle 203
- The Spanish dative alternation revisited 217
- Romanian genderless pronouns and parasitic gaps 231
- To agree or not to agree 249
- Variation in subject expression in Western Romance 267
- A phase-based analysis of Old French genitive constructions 285
- V2 loss in Old French and Old Occitan 301
-
Part III. Morphology, and interfaces
- The loss and survival of inflectional morphology 323
- Allomorphy in pre-clitic imperatives in Formenteran Catalan 337
- Preverbal vowels in wh-questions and declarative sentences in Northern Italian Piacentine dialects 353
- Pitch accent, focus, and the interpretation of non- wh exclamatives in French 369
- Detours along the perfect path 387
- Grammaticalization of commencer/cominciare “to begin” in French and Italian 405
- Index of subjects, terms and languages 423
