John Benjamins Publishing Company
C-gravitation and the grammaticalization degree of “present progressives” in English, French, and Dutch
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Naoaki Wada
Abstract
This paper aims to explain the differences of grammaticalization degree among the “present progressives” in English, French, and Dutch by introducing the notion of “C-gravitation” (i.e., gravitation toward the consciousness of the speaker) into their grammaticalization process. Hirose (1995, 2000) & Hasegawa and Hirose (2005) proposed a general theory of linguistic comparison in which public-self-centered languages, such as English, are distinguished from private-self-centered languages, such as Japanese, in terms of the notions of “public self” (i.e., the subject of communicating) and “private self” (i.e., the subject of thinking), based on which I developed two types of C-gravitation in Wada (2008) to explain differences concerning tense and mood among public-self-centered languages, including English, French, and Dutch. The above differences will be explained along these lines from a broader perspective.
Abstract
This paper aims to explain the differences of grammaticalization degree among the “present progressives” in English, French, and Dutch by introducing the notion of “C-gravitation” (i.e., gravitation toward the consciousness of the speaker) into their grammaticalization process. Hirose (1995, 2000) & Hasegawa and Hirose (2005) proposed a general theory of linguistic comparison in which public-self-centered languages, such as English, are distinguished from private-self-centered languages, such as Japanese, in terms of the notions of “public self” (i.e., the subject of communicating) and “private self” (i.e., the subject of thinking), based on which I developed two types of C-gravitation in Wada (2008) to explain differences concerning tense and mood among public-self-centered languages, including English, French, and Dutch. The above differences will be explained along these lines from a broader perspective.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part 1. General issues
- Are there two different ways of approaching grammaticalization? 23
- Functional similarity despite geographical distance 55
- Analogy 75
- Central Southern Guangxi as a grammaticalization area 105
- Grammaticalizing connectives in English and discourse information structure 135
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Part 2. Case studies
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The noun phrase
- The grammaticalization of interrogative pronouns into relative pronouns in South-Caucasian languages 163
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The verbal phrase
- From time to surprise 185
- C-gravitation and the grammaticalization degree of “present progressives” in English, French, and Dutch 207
- The avertive and proximative grams in Maltese using the auxiliary għodd 231
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Discourse markers
- Pragmatic uses of nu in Old Saxon and Old English 259
- (Inter)subjectification and paradigmaticization 291
- The development of three classifiers into degree modifier constructions in Chinese 315
- From the inside to the outside of the sentence 333
- The development of the Chinese scalar additive coordinators derived from prohibitives 361
- Cross-varietal diversity in constructional entrenchment 381
- Index 431
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. General issues
- Are there two different ways of approaching grammaticalization? 23
- Functional similarity despite geographical distance 55
- Analogy 75
- Central Southern Guangxi as a grammaticalization area 105
- Grammaticalizing connectives in English and discourse information structure 135
-
Part 2. Case studies
-
The noun phrase
- The grammaticalization of interrogative pronouns into relative pronouns in South-Caucasian languages 163
-
The verbal phrase
- From time to surprise 185
- C-gravitation and the grammaticalization degree of “present progressives” in English, French, and Dutch 207
- The avertive and proximative grams in Maltese using the auxiliary għodd 231
-
Discourse markers
- Pragmatic uses of nu in Old Saxon and Old English 259
- (Inter)subjectification and paradigmaticization 291
- The development of three classifiers into degree modifier constructions in Chinese 315
- From the inside to the outside of the sentence 333
- The development of the Chinese scalar additive coordinators derived from prohibitives 361
- Cross-varietal diversity in constructional entrenchment 381
- Index 431
