A multi-modular approach to gradual change in grammaticalization

Examining four constructions in three languages (English quantificational nouns, Japanese subordinating conjunctions, Cantonese coverbs, Japanese deverbal post-positions), this paper shows that semantic properties can change faster than syntactic properties in gradual processes of grammaticalization...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of linguistics 2008-03, Vol.44 (1), p.45-86
Main Authors: FRANCIS, ELAINE J., YUASA, ETSUYO
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjectives
Cantonese
Case studies
Changes
Chinese languages
Conjunctions
Construction
Diachrony and historical linguistics
English language
Grammar
Grammatical constructions
Grammaticalization
Iconicity
Japanese language
Languages
Linguistics
Nouns
Postpositions
Predicates
Product development
Semantic categories
Semantic change
Syntactic change
Syntactic structures
Syntactics
Syntax
Syntax semantics relationship
Verbs
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Summary:Examining four constructions in three languages (English quantificational nouns, Japanese subordinating conjunctions, Cantonese coverbs, Japanese deverbal post-positions), this paper shows that semantic properties can change faster than syntactic properties in gradual processes of grammaticalization. In each of these cases, the syntactic properties of one category become associated with the semantic properties of a different category when an item undergoes semantic change, leading to the appearance of mixed categorial properties. We propose that this sort of change is best captured using a multi-modular framework (Sadock 1991, Yuasa 2005), which allows changes to affect semantics independently of syntax, and which shows clearly that the relevant items and constructions still conform to the separate structural constraints of syntax and semantics, despite the unusual combination of properties. These findings are important for theories of grammaticalization because they suggest that the cover term 'decategorialization' (the loss of grammatical properties associated with the source category) must be understood in terms of at least two separate processes: (1) the effects of semantic change on an item's distribution; and (2) the effects of frequency (Bybee & Hopper 2001) and Pressure for Structure-Concept Iconicity (Newmeyer 1998) on an item's syntactic categorization. Our case studies show that the first kind of decategorialization effects can occur even in the absence of the second kind. Implications of these findings, including possible reasons for both the instability and the long-term retention of mismatch constructions, are also considered.
ISSN:0022-2267
1469-7742
DOI:10.1017/S0022226707004951