The grammaticalization of progressive constructions with a focus on the English progressive
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Kristin Killie
Abstract
The article claims that progressive markers may develop out of purely emphatic markers. These markers develop into markers of ‘stressed ongoingness’, which emphasize that the timing of an event is remarkable, either in relation to some temporal reference point or in relation to some other event. The development into markers of ‘stressed ongoingness’ takes place with the help of adverbials which also express remarkableness, as well as contemporaneousness – or more specifically, remarkable contemporaneousness, e.g. just, already and still. With time, the temporal meaning of the collocation becomes prominent, while the emphatic meaning is downgraded. This paves the ground for the development of a pure progressive marker. The hypothesis is substantiated by evidence from a number of modern languages, which shows that the use progressive markers is generally triggered by adverbials such as just, already and still.
Abstract
The article claims that progressive markers may develop out of purely emphatic markers. These markers develop into markers of ‘stressed ongoingness’, which emphasize that the timing of an event is remarkable, either in relation to some temporal reference point or in relation to some other event. The development into markers of ‘stressed ongoingness’ takes place with the help of adverbials which also express remarkableness, as well as contemporaneousness – or more specifically, remarkable contemporaneousness, e.g. just, already and still. With time, the temporal meaning of the collocation becomes prominent, while the emphatic meaning is downgraded. This paves the ground for the development of a pure progressive marker. The hypothesis is substantiated by evidence from a number of modern languages, which shows that the use progressive markers is generally triggered by adverbials such as just, already and still.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Phonology
- A Phonological motivation behind the diatonic stress shift in Modern English 3
- Vowel reduction in verbs in King Alfred’s Pastoral Care 19
- The development of early Middle English ō 41
- The diachronic development of stød and tonal accent in North Germanic 53
- The evolution of the (alveolo)palatal lateral consonant in Spanish and Portuguese 69
-
Diachronic typology
- Evaluating prehistoric and early historic linguistic contacts 89
- Patterns in the diffusion of nomenclature systems 109
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Morphology
- Morphological evidence for the paradigmatic status of infinitives in French and Occitan 135
- Constructional change at the interface of cognition, culture, and language use 155
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Morphosyntax
- Stages in deflexion and the Norwegian dative 179
- Differential Object Marking in Old Japanese 195
- The grammaticalization of progressive constructions with a focus on the English progressive 213
- Hate and anger, love and desire 233
- The argument indexing of early Austronesian verbs 257
- The syntax of mood constructions in Old Japanese 281
- Medieval Sardinian 303
- Index 325
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Phonology
- A Phonological motivation behind the diatonic stress shift in Modern English 3
- Vowel reduction in verbs in King Alfred’s Pastoral Care 19
- The development of early Middle English ō 41
- The diachronic development of stød and tonal accent in North Germanic 53
- The evolution of the (alveolo)palatal lateral consonant in Spanish and Portuguese 69
-
Diachronic typology
- Evaluating prehistoric and early historic linguistic contacts 89
- Patterns in the diffusion of nomenclature systems 109
-
Morphology
- Morphological evidence for the paradigmatic status of infinitives in French and Occitan 135
- Constructional change at the interface of cognition, culture, and language use 155
-
Morphosyntax
- Stages in deflexion and the Norwegian dative 179
- Differential Object Marking in Old Japanese 195
- The grammaticalization of progressive constructions with a focus on the English progressive 213
- Hate and anger, love and desire 233
- The argument indexing of early Austronesian verbs 257
- The syntax of mood constructions in Old Japanese 281
- Medieval Sardinian 303
- Index 325
