Chapter 17. Auxiliary reduction in secondary grammaticalization
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Chad Howe
Abstract
At the center of grammaticalization studies has been an effort to understand the interplay between form and function throughout the development of a construction. A recent analysis by Dehé & Stathi (2016) has made the case that desemanticization (semantic reduction) and erosion (phonetic reduction) occur in parallel and that different phonetic patterns can be associated with different degrees of grammaticalization. This paper approaches Dehé and Stathi’s proposal by means of the periphrastic past (PP) in Spanish, a form that shows considerable variation across dialects and has been shown to display various degrees of grammaticalization (Howe 2013). Focusing specifically on the PP’s use in sequenced past narratives in Peninsular Spanish, this analysis observes the behavior of the haber auxiliary and finds evidence for increased reduction/omission in these innovative narrative contexts. The patterns of reduction shown in this analysis are consistent with the claim made by Dehé and Stathi regarding the association of specific reductive processes with more advanced stages of grammaticalization. These data reveal a coevolution of form and meaning with the PP not yet discussed in the literature, one that has broader implications for the study of periphrastic past forms in Romance.
Abstract
At the center of grammaticalization studies has been an effort to understand the interplay between form and function throughout the development of a construction. A recent analysis by Dehé & Stathi (2016) has made the case that desemanticization (semantic reduction) and erosion (phonetic reduction) occur in parallel and that different phonetic patterns can be associated with different degrees of grammaticalization. This paper approaches Dehé and Stathi’s proposal by means of the periphrastic past (PP) in Spanish, a form that shows considerable variation across dialects and has been shown to display various degrees of grammaticalization (Howe 2013). Focusing specifically on the PP’s use in sequenced past narratives in Peninsular Spanish, this analysis observes the behavior of the haber auxiliary and finds evidence for increased reduction/omission in these innovative narrative contexts. The patterns of reduction shown in this analysis are consistent with the claim made by Dehé and Stathi regarding the association of specific reductive processes with more advanced stages of grammaticalization. These data reveal a coevolution of form and meaning with the PP not yet discussed in the literature, one that has broader implications for the study of periphrastic past forms in Romance.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. The perfect volume 1
-
Part I. Perfects and their relatives
- Chapter 2. “Universal” readings of perfects and iamitives in typological perspective 43
- Chapter 3. Perfect and its relatives in Atayal 65
- Chapter 4. Structural and functional variations of the perfect in the Lezgic languages 87
- Chapter 5. Cross-linguistic parallels and contrasts in a contact language perfect construction 117
- Chapter 6. Perfect and negation 137
- Chapter 7. The diachrony of the perfect in Zapotec 163
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Part II. Perfect extensions, hodiernality and aoristic drift
- Chapter 8. More on hodiernality 181
- Chapter 9. The impact of the simultaneity vector on the temporal-aspectual development of the perfect tense in Romance languages 213
- Chapter 10. Gauging expansion in synchrony 241
-
Part III. Morphology of perfects
- Chapter 11. The rise of the periphrastic perfect tense in the continental West Germanic languages 261
- Chapter 12. On the emergence of auxiliary selection in Germanic 291
- Chapter 13. Language contact and competition in the periphrastic perfect in Early English 319
- Chapter 14. The Swedish perfect and periphrasis 343
- Chapter 15. “ Have -less perfects” in Norwegian 365
- Chapter 16. From have -omission to supercompounds 397
- Chapter 17. Auxiliary reduction in secondary grammaticalization 439
- Chapter 18. The functions of the auxiliary ‘have’ in Australian English vivid narratives 461
- Index 479
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. The perfect volume 1
-
Part I. Perfects and their relatives
- Chapter 2. “Universal” readings of perfects and iamitives in typological perspective 43
- Chapter 3. Perfect and its relatives in Atayal 65
- Chapter 4. Structural and functional variations of the perfect in the Lezgic languages 87
- Chapter 5. Cross-linguistic parallels and contrasts in a contact language perfect construction 117
- Chapter 6. Perfect and negation 137
- Chapter 7. The diachrony of the perfect in Zapotec 163
-
Part II. Perfect extensions, hodiernality and aoristic drift
- Chapter 8. More on hodiernality 181
- Chapter 9. The impact of the simultaneity vector on the temporal-aspectual development of the perfect tense in Romance languages 213
- Chapter 10. Gauging expansion in synchrony 241
-
Part III. Morphology of perfects
- Chapter 11. The rise of the periphrastic perfect tense in the continental West Germanic languages 261
- Chapter 12. On the emergence of auxiliary selection in Germanic 291
- Chapter 13. Language contact and competition in the periphrastic perfect in Early English 319
- Chapter 14. The Swedish perfect and periphrasis 343
- Chapter 15. “ Have -less perfects” in Norwegian 365
- Chapter 16. From have -omission to supercompounds 397
- Chapter 17. Auxiliary reduction in secondary grammaticalization 439
- Chapter 18. The functions of the auxiliary ‘have’ in Australian English vivid narratives 461
- Index 479
