Grammaticalization - Theory and Data

Since the 1980s theories and studies of grammaticalization have provided a major source of inspiration for the description and explanation of language change, giving rise to many publications and conferences. This collection presents original, empirical studies that explore various facets of grammaticalization research of both formal and functional orientation. The papers of this selection deal with general issues and specific empirical domains, such as personal pronouns; indefinite pronouns; final particles; tense and aspect markers; comitative markers and coordinating conjunctions. The languages covered include English, German, dialects of Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Walman (Papuan). The book will be of great interest to linguists working on language change in a wide variety of languages.

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Table of contents :
Sylvie Hancil & Ekkehard Koenig: Introduction

Part 1: General issues
Peter Öhl: Acquisition-based and usage-based explanations of grammaticalisation. An integrative approach
Irene Appelbaum: Grammaticalization and explanation
Jim Walker: The perfectivization of the English perfect. Is it a case of grammaticalization, after all? The challenge of pluricentrality
Bernd Heine: Explaining language structure. On categorial misbehavior in Walman (Papua New Guinea)
Elizabeth Closs Traugott: Toward a constructional framework for research on language change

Part 2: Case studies
Iwona Kokorniak & Małgorzata Fabiszak: Grammaticalization of Polish mental predicate prefixes
Reijirou Shibasaki: More thoughts on the grammaticalization of personal pronouns. Evidence from the history of Japanese
Cinzia Russi: The grammaticalization of nomə in the Eastern Abruzzese dialect Ortonese. From indefinite pronoun to inflectional marker?
Tinne van Rompaey & Kristin Davidse: The different developments of progressive aspect markers be in the middle/midst of and
be in the process of V-ing.
Mechanisms of change
Alexander Haselow: Sequentiality in dialogue as a trigger for grammaticalization
Sylvie Hancil: The final particle but in British English. An instance of cooptation
and grammaticalization at work
Mitsuko Narita Izutsu & Katsunobu Izutsu: “Final hanging but” in American English. Where a formal coordinator meets a functional subordinator