This paper examines a short-lived innovation, quotative all, in real and apparent time. We used a... more This paper examines a short-lived innovation, quotative all, in real and apparent time. We used a two-pronged method to trace the trajectory of all over the past two decades: (i) Quantitative analyses of the quotative system of young Californians from different decades; this reveals a startling crossover pattern: in 1990/1994, all predominates, but by 2005, it has given way to like. (ii) Searches of Internet newsgroups; these confirm that after rising briskly in the 1990s, all is declining. Tracing the changing usage of quotative options provides year-to-year evidence that all has recently given way to like. Our paper has two aims: We provide insights from ongoing language change regarding short-term innovations in the history of English. We also discuss our collaboration with Google Inc. and argue for the value of newsgroups to research projects investigating linguistic variation and change in real time, especially where recorded conversational tokens are relatively sparse.
The Semantic and Pragmatic Development of Substitutive Complex Prepositions in English Scott A. S... more The Semantic and Pragmatic Development of Substitutive Complex Prepositions in English Scott A. Schwenter and Elizabeth Closs Traugott Stanford University 1. Introduction1 The study of historical pragmatics in the United States originated largely in work in historical syntax and ...
The discourse contexts are analyzed in which clause-internal in fact developed pragmaticalized me... more The discourse contexts are analyzed in which clause-internal in fact developed pragmaticalized meanings and came to invoke scalarity in two domains: epistemic sentence adverb (IPAdv), and additive discourse marker (DM). In both these uses, in fact tightens word to world fit (Powell 1992): the world of epistemic belief in the case of the IPAdv, the world of evaluative, rhetorical perspective in the case of the DM. The analysis therefore provides further evidence for (i) pragmatic ambiguities across these worlds (Sweetser 1990), (ii) subjectification that shifts perspectives from interpersonal (adversative) to personal evaluation (Traugott 1989), (iii) the pragmatic relationship between scalarity, adversativity and additivity (Schwenter 1999). The different orientations of the two uses suggest they are polysemous, not contextually bound.
Language is always in flux. Over time new patterns can be observed that are either minor modifica... more Language is always in flux. Over time new patterns can be observed that are either minor modifications to the linguistic system, as when the meaning of a lexical item changes, or major ones, as when word order changes occur. That language change occurs primarily as a result of acquisition is uncontroversial. There are, however, very different theories and discourses about how to interpret this observation. To simplify, one view assumes that change is internal or endogenous, in other words that grammars change (Kiparsky 1968) and focuses mainly on syntactic change (e.g. Lightfoot 1998): meaning change is hypothesized to be derivative of syntactic change. On this view the child is born with a rich innate universal grammar (UG) and passively selects the relevant aspects of this grammar based on input prior to the “critical period” of puberty. A representative statement is: “A grammar grows in a child from some initial state (UG), when she is exposed to primary linguistic data” (Lightfo...
Most instances of grammaticalization have been shown to arise in restrictive contexts (cf. Bybee ... more Most instances of grammaticalization have been shown to arise in restrictive contexts (cf. Bybee et al. 1994). The persistence (Hopper 1991) of linguistic contexts raises theoretical and methodological issues for historical corpus research. What is the appropriate unit of linguistic context? How long do contexts remain relevant in the history of specific constructions? In quantitative work should “bridging contexts” (Heine 2002) and “critical contexts” (Diewald 2002) that enable grammaticalization be counted after grammaticalization has set in? I argue that ambiguous contexts (‘co-texts’ broadly defined to include prior and following discourse), if attested, should be counted (contra Eckardt 2006), because they persist as part of the ecology of a newly grammaticalizing construction and should therefore be considered an integral component of diachronic corpus research. Data discussed involve the development of motion-with-a-purpose BE going to V into an auxiliary of the future as evidenced by the Early Modern English part of Helsinki Corpus, and by the first fifty years of Proceedings of the Old Bailey.
De Smet et al. (2018) propose that when functionally similar constructions come to overlap, analo... more De Smet et al. (2018) propose that when functionally similar constructions come to overlap, analogical attraction may occur. So may differentiation, but this process involves attraction to other subnetworks and is both “accidental” and “exceptional”. I argue that differentiation plays a considerably more significant role than De Smet et al. allow. My case study is the development of the dative and benefactive alternations. The rise of the dative alternation (e.g., “gave the Saxons land” ∼ “gave land to the Saxons”) has been shown to occur in later Middle English between 1400 and 1500 (Zehentner 2018). Building on Zehentner and Traugott (2020), the rise of the benefactive alternation (e.g., “build her a house” ∼ “build a house for her”) in Early Modern English c1650 is analyzed from a historical constructionalist perspective and compared with the rise of the dative alternation. The histories of the alternations exemplify the rise of functionally similar constructions that overlap, an...
Cognitive linguistics seeks to account for “a speaker’s knowledge of the full range of linguistic... more Cognitive linguistics seeks to account for “a speaker’s knowledge of the full range of linguistic conventions” (LANGACKER, 1987; also GOLDBERG, 2006). It is surprising therefore that little attention has been paid in cognitive linguistics to the linguistic conventions called “discourse markers” (SCHIFFRIN, 1987) or “pragmatic markers” (FRASER, 2009, et passim). Pragmatic markers include signals of attention to social relationships (well, please), beliefs (I think, in fact), and discourse management (after all, anyway). Members of the third subtype are metatextual connectors of discourse segments (“discourse markers” in Fraser’s taxonomy). I argue that because pragmatic markers in general play a major role in negotiating meaning, they are an important part of speakers’ knowledge of language. Pragmatic markers are well-known not to have truth-conditional meaning, and not to be syntactically integrated with the host clause. However, they have conventional pragmatic meanings (HANSEN, 20...
The hypothesis that “invited inferences” are factors in change and challenges to it are reviewed.... more The hypothesis that “invited inferences” are factors in change and challenges to it are reviewed. In light of recent work on historical construction grammar and interactional discourse analysis, I suggest that at least three types of inferences play a role in interactional contexts: local inferences associated with specific expressions; discourse structuring inferences pertaining to factors like coherence, backgrounding and foregrounding; and turn-taking inferences associated with turn relevant positions. A case study tests this suggestion: the development of discourse structuring uses of a family of Look expressions. Turn-taking has been regarded as a trigger in related changes. However, in this case not turn-taking, but rather a profile shift associated with non-use of complementizers is hypothesized to be a crucial enabling factor.
... Romaine (1995: 420) further advises that some overlap should always be expected across tense,... more ... Romaine (1995: 420) further advises that some overlap should always be expected across tense,aspect and modality. Most importantly, it has come to be recognized that certain areas of modality are synchronically indeterminate or vague in certain contexts. ...
A construction grammar approach is presented to changes to language as a system that is both comm... more A construction grammar approach is presented to changes to language as a system that is both communicative and cognitive (Traugott and Trousdale 2013). Constructionalization is defined as the development of formnew-meaningnew pairs and constructional changes as changes to features of constructions. The approach requires focus on form and meaning equally. Constructionalization is shown to encompass and go beyond both grammaticalization and lexicalization, which are conceptualized as on a continuum. The framework favors thinking in terms of analogizing to sets and schemas as well as of gradual (micro-step) reanalyses. The ability to see how networks, schemas, and micro-constructions are created or grow and decline, as well as the ability to track the development of patterns at both substantive and schematic levels, allows the researcher to see how each micro-construction has its own history within the constraints of larger patterns, most immediately schemas, but also related network nodes.
This paper examines a short-lived innovation, quotative all, in real and apparent time. We used a... more This paper examines a short-lived innovation, quotative all, in real and apparent time. We used a two-pronged method to trace the trajectory of all over the past two decades: (i) Quantitative analyses of the quotative system of young Californians from different decades; this reveals a startling crossover pattern: in 1990/1994, all predominates, but by 2005, it has given way to like. (ii) Searches of Internet newsgroups; these confirm that after rising briskly in the 1990s, all is declining. Tracing the changing usage of quotative options provides year-to-year evidence that all has recently given way to like. Our paper has two aims: We provide insights from ongoing language change regarding short-term innovations in the history of English. We also discuss our collaboration with Google Inc. and argue for the value of newsgroups to research projects investigating linguistic variation and change in real time, especially where recorded conversational tokens are relatively sparse.
The Semantic and Pragmatic Development of Substitutive Complex Prepositions in English Scott A. S... more The Semantic and Pragmatic Development of Substitutive Complex Prepositions in English Scott A. Schwenter and Elizabeth Closs Traugott Stanford University 1. Introduction1 The study of historical pragmatics in the United States originated largely in work in historical syntax and ...
The discourse contexts are analyzed in which clause-internal in fact developed pragmaticalized me... more The discourse contexts are analyzed in which clause-internal in fact developed pragmaticalized meanings and came to invoke scalarity in two domains: epistemic sentence adverb (IPAdv), and additive discourse marker (DM). In both these uses, in fact tightens word to world fit (Powell 1992): the world of epistemic belief in the case of the IPAdv, the world of evaluative, rhetorical perspective in the case of the DM. The analysis therefore provides further evidence for (i) pragmatic ambiguities across these worlds (Sweetser 1990), (ii) subjectification that shifts perspectives from interpersonal (adversative) to personal evaluation (Traugott 1989), (iii) the pragmatic relationship between scalarity, adversativity and additivity (Schwenter 1999). The different orientations of the two uses suggest they are polysemous, not contextually bound.
Language is always in flux. Over time new patterns can be observed that are either minor modifica... more Language is always in flux. Over time new patterns can be observed that are either minor modifications to the linguistic system, as when the meaning of a lexical item changes, or major ones, as when word order changes occur. That language change occurs primarily as a result of acquisition is uncontroversial. There are, however, very different theories and discourses about how to interpret this observation. To simplify, one view assumes that change is internal or endogenous, in other words that grammars change (Kiparsky 1968) and focuses mainly on syntactic change (e.g. Lightfoot 1998): meaning change is hypothesized to be derivative of syntactic change. On this view the child is born with a rich innate universal grammar (UG) and passively selects the relevant aspects of this grammar based on input prior to the “critical period” of puberty. A representative statement is: “A grammar grows in a child from some initial state (UG), when she is exposed to primary linguistic data” (Lightfo...
Most instances of grammaticalization have been shown to arise in restrictive contexts (cf. Bybee ... more Most instances of grammaticalization have been shown to arise in restrictive contexts (cf. Bybee et al. 1994). The persistence (Hopper 1991) of linguistic contexts raises theoretical and methodological issues for historical corpus research. What is the appropriate unit of linguistic context? How long do contexts remain relevant in the history of specific constructions? In quantitative work should “bridging contexts” (Heine 2002) and “critical contexts” (Diewald 2002) that enable grammaticalization be counted after grammaticalization has set in? I argue that ambiguous contexts (‘co-texts’ broadly defined to include prior and following discourse), if attested, should be counted (contra Eckardt 2006), because they persist as part of the ecology of a newly grammaticalizing construction and should therefore be considered an integral component of diachronic corpus research. Data discussed involve the development of motion-with-a-purpose BE going to V into an auxiliary of the future as evidenced by the Early Modern English part of Helsinki Corpus, and by the first fifty years of Proceedings of the Old Bailey.
De Smet et al. (2018) propose that when functionally similar constructions come to overlap, analo... more De Smet et al. (2018) propose that when functionally similar constructions come to overlap, analogical attraction may occur. So may differentiation, but this process involves attraction to other subnetworks and is both “accidental” and “exceptional”. I argue that differentiation plays a considerably more significant role than De Smet et al. allow. My case study is the development of the dative and benefactive alternations. The rise of the dative alternation (e.g., “gave the Saxons land” ∼ “gave land to the Saxons”) has been shown to occur in later Middle English between 1400 and 1500 (Zehentner 2018). Building on Zehentner and Traugott (2020), the rise of the benefactive alternation (e.g., “build her a house” ∼ “build a house for her”) in Early Modern English c1650 is analyzed from a historical constructionalist perspective and compared with the rise of the dative alternation. The histories of the alternations exemplify the rise of functionally similar constructions that overlap, an...
Cognitive linguistics seeks to account for “a speaker’s knowledge of the full range of linguistic... more Cognitive linguistics seeks to account for “a speaker’s knowledge of the full range of linguistic conventions” (LANGACKER, 1987; also GOLDBERG, 2006). It is surprising therefore that little attention has been paid in cognitive linguistics to the linguistic conventions called “discourse markers” (SCHIFFRIN, 1987) or “pragmatic markers” (FRASER, 2009, et passim). Pragmatic markers include signals of attention to social relationships (well, please), beliefs (I think, in fact), and discourse management (after all, anyway). Members of the third subtype are metatextual connectors of discourse segments (“discourse markers” in Fraser’s taxonomy). I argue that because pragmatic markers in general play a major role in negotiating meaning, they are an important part of speakers’ knowledge of language. Pragmatic markers are well-known not to have truth-conditional meaning, and not to be syntactically integrated with the host clause. However, they have conventional pragmatic meanings (HANSEN, 20...
The hypothesis that “invited inferences” are factors in change and challenges to it are reviewed.... more The hypothesis that “invited inferences” are factors in change and challenges to it are reviewed. In light of recent work on historical construction grammar and interactional discourse analysis, I suggest that at least three types of inferences play a role in interactional contexts: local inferences associated with specific expressions; discourse structuring inferences pertaining to factors like coherence, backgrounding and foregrounding; and turn-taking inferences associated with turn relevant positions. A case study tests this suggestion: the development of discourse structuring uses of a family of Look expressions. Turn-taking has been regarded as a trigger in related changes. However, in this case not turn-taking, but rather a profile shift associated with non-use of complementizers is hypothesized to be a crucial enabling factor.
... Romaine (1995: 420) further advises that some overlap should always be expected across tense,... more ... Romaine (1995: 420) further advises that some overlap should always be expected across tense,aspect and modality. Most importantly, it has come to be recognized that certain areas of modality are synchronically indeterminate or vague in certain contexts. ...
A construction grammar approach is presented to changes to language as a system that is both comm... more A construction grammar approach is presented to changes to language as a system that is both communicative and cognitive (Traugott and Trousdale 2013). Constructionalization is defined as the development of formnew-meaningnew pairs and constructional changes as changes to features of constructions. The approach requires focus on form and meaning equally. Constructionalization is shown to encompass and go beyond both grammaticalization and lexicalization, which are conceptualized as on a continuum. The framework favors thinking in terms of analogizing to sets and schemas as well as of gradual (micro-step) reanalyses. The ability to see how networks, schemas, and micro-constructions are created or grow and decline, as well as the ability to track the development of patterns at both substantive and schematic levels, allows the researcher to see how each micro-construction has its own history within the constraints of larger patterns, most immediately schemas, but also related network nodes.
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