John Benjamins Publishing Company
Features in reanalysis and grammaticalization
Abstract
This chapter discusses this volume’s contributions by Roberts, De Smet, and Denison because they cover a wide range of explanations of gradience and gradual change. These three approaches can be accounted for in a similar way and I offer an account of gradual change using a Feature Economy Principle. This view is slightly different from that in Roberts’ chapter but contributes to the spirit of his chapter in seeing language variation as determined by feature variation. I then provide some new data on the grammaticalization of for that adds to De Smet’s data and that fits with a view of gradual change as feature economy. Finally, I suggest that the cases discussed by Denison as non-structural are really structural and again fit in a framework of Feature Economy.
Abstract
This chapter discusses this volume’s contributions by Roberts, De Smet, and Denison because they cover a wide range of explanations of gradience and gradual change. These three approaches can be accounted for in a similar way and I offer an account of gradual change using a Feature Economy Principle. This view is slightly different from that in Roberts’ chapter but contributes to the spirit of his chapter in seeing language variation as determined by feature variation. I then provide some new data on the grammaticalization of for that adds to De Smet’s data and that fits with a view of gradual change as feature economy. Finally, I suggest that the cases discussed by Denison as non-structural are really structural and again fit in a framework of Feature Economy.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Preface 1
- Gradience, gradualness and grammaticalization 19
- Grammaticalization, the clausal hierarchy and semantic bleaching 45
- Grammatical interference 75
- Category change in English with and without structural change 105
- Features in reanalysis and grammaticalization 129
- How synchronic gradience makes sense in the light of language change (and vice versa) 149
- What can synchronic gradience tell us about reanalysis? 181
- A paradigmatic approach to language and language change 203
- Grammaticalization and the it-cleft construction 221
- Grammaticalization in Chinese 245
- Grammaticalization and models of language 279
- Language index 301
- Subject index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Preface 1
- Gradience, gradualness and grammaticalization 19
- Grammaticalization, the clausal hierarchy and semantic bleaching 45
- Grammatical interference 75
- Category change in English with and without structural change 105
- Features in reanalysis and grammaticalization 129
- How synchronic gradience makes sense in the light of language change (and vice versa) 149
- What can synchronic gradience tell us about reanalysis? 181
- A paradigmatic approach to language and language change 203
- Grammaticalization and the it-cleft construction 221
- Grammaticalization in Chinese 245
- Grammaticalization and models of language 279
- Language index 301
- Subject index 303
