ENGLISH

Why is grammaticalization irreversible?

By Haspelmath M.

Book information

Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
161 kB (165016 bytes)
Pages
\26
Library
twirpx
Time added
2017-08-07 07:01:42
Языки и языкознание;Лингвистика;Морфология

Description

In: Linguistics 37.6, p. 1043-1068.Grammaticalization, the change by which lexical categories become functional categories, is overwhelmingly irreversible. Language change is shown to result from the cumulation of countless individual actions of speakers, which are not intended to change language, but whose side effect is change in a particular direction. Grammaticalization is a side effect of the maxim of extravagance, that is, speakers’ use of unusually explicit formulations in order to attract attention.Irreversibility Confronting irreversibility Previous attempts at explaining irreversibility Explaining irreversibility Conclusion

Similar books