The Grammaticalization of the German adjectives lauter (and eitel )
-
Elke Gehweiler
Abstract
After a corpus semantic analysis of the synchronic uses of the originally synonymous words lauter and eitel, this article traces the grammaticalization of German lauter (with reference to eitel) on the basis of three diachronic corpora. Lauter was originally a privative adjective meaning ‘pure, unmixed’ and came to be used as negative intensifier in Early New High German; in Present Day German lauter is a determiner. It is argued that in the development of lauter a number of factors played a role, among them the ambiguity of privative adjectives in attributive position, discourse contexts that allowed a comparison interpretation, and the obligatorification of the adjectival inflection during Early New High German.
Abstract
After a corpus semantic analysis of the synchronic uses of the originally synonymous words lauter and eitel, this article traces the grammaticalization of German lauter (with reference to eitel) on the basis of three diachronic corpora. Lauter was originally a privative adjective meaning ‘pure, unmixed’ and came to be used as negative intensifier in Early New High German; in Present Day German lauter is a determiner. It is argued that in the development of lauter a number of factors played a role, among them the ambiguity of privative adjectives in attributive position, discourse contexts that allowed a comparison interpretation, and the obligatorification of the adjectival inflection during Early New High German.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
part I Basic questions
- On some problem areas in grammaticalization studies 17
- Issues in constructional approaches to grammaticalization in English 51
- Reconsidering erosion in grammaticalization 73
- Grammaticalization, subjectification and objectification 101
- Degrammaticalization 123
- Degrammaticalization and obsolescent morphology 151
-
part II Grammaticalization and the explanation of language change
- An analogical approach to grammaticalization 181
- Does grammaticalisation need analogy? 221
- What grammaticalisation can reveal about same-subject control 241
- How the Latin neuter pronominal forms became markers of non-individuation in Spanish 273
-
part III Case studies of micro-processes of grammaticalization
- The Grammaticalization of the German adjectives lauter (and eitel ) 297
- Is German gehören an auxiliary? 323
- Micro-processes of grammaticalization 343
- List of contributors 373
- Index 375
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
part I Basic questions
- On some problem areas in grammaticalization studies 17
- Issues in constructional approaches to grammaticalization in English 51
- Reconsidering erosion in grammaticalization 73
- Grammaticalization, subjectification and objectification 101
- Degrammaticalization 123
- Degrammaticalization and obsolescent morphology 151
-
part II Grammaticalization and the explanation of language change
- An analogical approach to grammaticalization 181
- Does grammaticalisation need analogy? 221
- What grammaticalisation can reveal about same-subject control 241
- How the Latin neuter pronominal forms became markers of non-individuation in Spanish 273
-
part III Case studies of micro-processes of grammaticalization
- The Grammaticalization of the German adjectives lauter (and eitel ) 297
- Is German gehören an auxiliary? 323
- Micro-processes of grammaticalization 343
- List of contributors 373
- Index 375
