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An iconic, analogical approach to grammaticalization

Abstract

This paper addresses a number of problems connected with the ‘apparatus’ used in grammaticalization theory. It will be argued that we get a better grip on what happens in processes of grammaticalization (and its ‘opposite’, lexicalization) if the process is viewed in terms of analogical processes, which are part of our general cognitive abilities. These analogical processes are connected with the modes of iconic and indexical thinking, which are prior to and underlie the mode of symbolic thinking (cf. Deacon 1997). I will make use of a simple analogical or usage-based grammar model, in which a distinction is made between processes taking place on a token level and those taking place on a type level. The model also involves taking more notice of the form of linguistic signs and of the synchronic grammar system at each stage of the grammaticalization process. This model will then be used on a classic example of grammaticalization (or subjectification), involving the modal verbs in the history of English. It will show that analogy lies at the basis of this grammaticalization process, and it will illustrate at the same time that the problems with scope, noted by Tabor and Traugott (1998), can also be dealt with if the process is seen as being steered by analogy.

Abstract

This paper addresses a number of problems connected with the ‘apparatus’ used in grammaticalization theory. It will be argued that we get a better grip on what happens in processes of grammaticalization (and its ‘opposite’, lexicalization) if the process is viewed in terms of analogical processes, which are part of our general cognitive abilities. These analogical processes are connected with the modes of iconic and indexical thinking, which are prior to and underlie the mode of symbolic thinking (cf. Deacon 1997). I will make use of a simple analogical or usage-based grammar model, in which a distinction is made between processes taking place on a token level and those taking place on a type level. The model also involves taking more notice of the form of linguistic signs and of the synchronic grammar system at each stage of the grammaticalization process. This model will then be used on a classic example of grammaticalization (or subjectification), involving the modal verbs in the history of English. It will show that analogy lies at the basis of this grammaticalization process, and it will illustrate at the same time that the problems with scope, noted by Tabor and Traugott (1998), can also be dealt with if the process is seen as being steered by analogy.

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: Signergy 1
  6. Part I. Theoretical approaches
  7. Literary practices and imaginative possibilities 23
  8. The bell jar, the maze and the mural 47
  9. Iconicity as meaning miming meaning and meaning miming form 73
  10. A view from the margins 101
  11. Part II. Visual iconicity
  12. Iconic and indexical elements in Italian Futurist poetry 129
  13. Taking a line for a walk 157
  14. Iconicity and naming in E. E. Cummings’s poetry 179
  15. Bunyan and the physiognomy of the Wor(l)d 193
  16. From icon to index and back 211
  17. The poem as icon of the painting 225
  18. Part III. Iconicity and historical change
  19. Iconicity and etymology 243
  20. Iconicity typological and theological 259
  21. An iconic, analogical approach to grammaticalization 279
  22. Part IV. Iconicity and positionality
  23. Iconic signs, motivated semantic networks, and the nature of conceptualization 301
  24. Iconicity and subjectivisation in the English NP 319
  25. Metrical inversion and enjambment in the context of syntactic and morphological structures 347
  26. Part V. Iconicity and translation
  27. Translation, iconicity, and dialogism 367
  28. Iconicity and developments in translation studies 387
  29. Author index 413
  30. Subject index 417
Signergy
This chapter is in the book Signergy
https://doi.org/10.1075/ill.9.17fis

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: Signergy 1
  6. Part I. Theoretical approaches
  7. Literary practices and imaginative possibilities 23
  8. The bell jar, the maze and the mural 47
  9. Iconicity as meaning miming meaning and meaning miming form 73
  10. A view from the margins 101
  11. Part II. Visual iconicity
  12. Iconic and indexical elements in Italian Futurist poetry 129
  13. Taking a line for a walk 157
  14. Iconicity and naming in E. E. Cummings’s poetry 179
  15. Bunyan and the physiognomy of the Wor(l)d 193
  16. From icon to index and back 211
  17. The poem as icon of the painting 225
  18. Part III. Iconicity and historical change
  19. Iconicity and etymology 243
  20. Iconicity typological and theological 259
  21. An iconic, analogical approach to grammaticalization 279
  22. Part IV. Iconicity and positionality
  23. Iconic signs, motivated semantic networks, and the nature of conceptualization 301
  24. Iconicity and subjectivisation in the English NP 319
  25. Metrical inversion and enjambment in the context of syntactic and morphological structures 347
  26. Part V. Iconicity and translation
  27. Translation, iconicity, and dialogism 367
  28. Iconicity and developments in translation studies 387
  29. Author index 413
  30. Subject index 417
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