The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements 8 TM of American National Stand... more The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements 8 TM of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Debra Ziegeler ...
In an earlier study (Ziegeler 2007), it was emphasised that it was redundant to discuss construct... more In an earlier study (Ziegeler 2007), it was emphasised that it was redundant to discuss construction coercion in the face of more transparent mechanisms of cognitive pragmatics such as metonymy, and within the sphere of grammaticalisation studies. The present paper extends such arguments, including examples of (apparent) coercion of count-to-mass nouns in Colloquial Singaporean English, and, comparing the data with examples of noun referentiality in earlier historical English, illustrates that what on the surface may appear to be coercion is just a sub-type of metonymy, involved in the metaphorical generalisation of constructions across lexical-syntactic boundaries. Comparison with retention and unresolved mismatch in grammaticalisation is also considered.
This chapter surveys recent work on the diachrony of modality, mood, and subjectivity. It first c... more This chapter surveys recent work on the diachrony of modality, mood, and subjectivity. It first considers the research over the past thirty years into the development of modal forms and meanings—which is largely dominated by the study of English, and more broadly the Germanic languages, in the context of grammaticalization theory. It focuses on the nature of the source constructions for modal forms, on the emergence of epistemic functions from deontic or root modality, and on the role of syntactic development for the emergence of modal meanings. The chapter then discusses work on the diachronic development of mood, focusing on indicative/subjunctive inflection and (ir)realis coding in languages with little written history. It finally looks into diachronic studies and the role of subjectivity and subjectification in meaning changes in the class of modal verbs in languages.
The present chapter outlines the possible problems that may arise from applying a construction gr... more The present chapter outlines the possible problems that may arise from applying a construction grammar approach to the study of international dialects of English. Using Singapore English as a base for comparison, it discusses construction types such as the progressive construction, the ‘false’ transitive construction, and the bare nominal construction (BNC), raising the question whether constructions in contact situations can be seen as constructions of the lexifier source language or the substrate languages which usually provide the syntactic source for the construction type. It also approaches the notion of ‘coercion’ often associated with construction analysis, and proposes that such a notion need not be evoked at all, given the hypothesis of ‘merger’ constructions, which in many cases can justify the selection of an ambiguous syntactic form across dialects by accommodating two (allo-construction) variants of the same construction type.
The use of the adverb already in Colloquial Singapore English has long been known as one of the m... more The use of the adverb already in Colloquial Singapore English has long been known as one of the most readily recognizable features defining the contact dialect, marking aspectual nuances such as anterior, completive, inchoative and inceptive functions, as noted by Bao (2005, 2015). Recent observations note that the uses of already as an inchoative marker (distinguishing the adverb as an iamitive) are more frequently found than completive uses across a small, synchronic sample of speakers (Teo 2019). It is perhaps less often recognized, though, that the aspectual use of already co-exists with the variable marking for past tense in Singlish (Ho & Platt 1993), and that both the aspectual adverb and the past tense may be seen to co-occur in the same construction. The frequency of already in its various functions is examined across two corpora, and the relative frequency of completive vs. non-completive functions is quantified diachronically. It is hypothesized that, rather than grammati...
The study of replica grammaticalisation in contact (Heine & Kuteva 2003, 2005) has not been witho... more The study of replica grammaticalisation in contact (Heine & Kuteva 2003, 2005) has not been without its critics (e.g. Matthews & Yip 2009, Gast & van der Auwera 2012) because of assumptions of a historical linguistic awareness of model language grammaticalisation routes. In Heine & Kuteva’s studies, the contact model language was usually understood to be a substrate or L1. The present study investigates a universal feature of New English dialects and proposes instead a replication of earlier diachronic stages in the lexifier attested up to 1000 years ago. Replication is assisted by the identification and exploitation of extant, lexical source meanings or earlier grammaticalisation stages co-existing with the grammaticalised item in the lexifier, in a situation of contact layering.
Propositional aspect and the development of modal inferences in English Debra Ziegeler National U... more Propositional aspect and the development of modal inferences in English Debra Ziegeler National University of Singapore The alignment of deontic modality with perfective lexical aspect and epistemic modality with imperfective lexical aspect has been observed in a number of ...
The study of mood and modality in grammar was, in previous years, largely affected by the influen... more The study of mood and modality in grammar was, in previous years, largely affected by the influence of philosophical logic and its association with notions of possibility and necessity. A review of typological, comparative data reveals that description in linguistic terms is far from uniform across languages and has little to do with modal logic, the ideal approach to analyzing modality and its expression in grammar being from a diachronic perspective. In such an approach, the diversity in present-day categorization can be predicted from the various historical source forms associated with each modal type, via the general principles of pragmatic inferencing in the context of everyday discourse.
This volume provides a much-needed, critical overview of the field of constructions and construct... more This volume provides a much-needed, critical overview of the field of constructions and construction grammar in the context of Singapore English, and poses the question of identifying a construction in contact when the lexicon is derived from one language and the syntax from another. Case studies are illustrated in which the possibility of a 'merger'-construction is offered to resolve such problems. The book is intended for students of construction theories, variation studies, or any researcher of contact grammars
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements 8 TM of American National Stand... more The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements 8 TM of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Debra Ziegeler ...
In an earlier study (Ziegeler 2007), it was emphasised that it was redundant to discuss construct... more In an earlier study (Ziegeler 2007), it was emphasised that it was redundant to discuss construction coercion in the face of more transparent mechanisms of cognitive pragmatics such as metonymy, and within the sphere of grammaticalisation studies. The present paper extends such arguments, including examples of (apparent) coercion of count-to-mass nouns in Colloquial Singaporean English, and, comparing the data with examples of noun referentiality in earlier historical English, illustrates that what on the surface may appear to be coercion is just a sub-type of metonymy, involved in the metaphorical generalisation of constructions across lexical-syntactic boundaries. Comparison with retention and unresolved mismatch in grammaticalisation is also considered.
This chapter surveys recent work on the diachrony of modality, mood, and subjectivity. It first c... more This chapter surveys recent work on the diachrony of modality, mood, and subjectivity. It first considers the research over the past thirty years into the development of modal forms and meanings—which is largely dominated by the study of English, and more broadly the Germanic languages, in the context of grammaticalization theory. It focuses on the nature of the source constructions for modal forms, on the emergence of epistemic functions from deontic or root modality, and on the role of syntactic development for the emergence of modal meanings. The chapter then discusses work on the diachronic development of mood, focusing on indicative/subjunctive inflection and (ir)realis coding in languages with little written history. It finally looks into diachronic studies and the role of subjectivity and subjectification in meaning changes in the class of modal verbs in languages.
The present chapter outlines the possible problems that may arise from applying a construction gr... more The present chapter outlines the possible problems that may arise from applying a construction grammar approach to the study of international dialects of English. Using Singapore English as a base for comparison, it discusses construction types such as the progressive construction, the ‘false’ transitive construction, and the bare nominal construction (BNC), raising the question whether constructions in contact situations can be seen as constructions of the lexifier source language or the substrate languages which usually provide the syntactic source for the construction type. It also approaches the notion of ‘coercion’ often associated with construction analysis, and proposes that such a notion need not be evoked at all, given the hypothesis of ‘merger’ constructions, which in many cases can justify the selection of an ambiguous syntactic form across dialects by accommodating two (allo-construction) variants of the same construction type.
The use of the adverb already in Colloquial Singapore English has long been known as one of the m... more The use of the adverb already in Colloquial Singapore English has long been known as one of the most readily recognizable features defining the contact dialect, marking aspectual nuances such as anterior, completive, inchoative and inceptive functions, as noted by Bao (2005, 2015). Recent observations note that the uses of already as an inchoative marker (distinguishing the adverb as an iamitive) are more frequently found than completive uses across a small, synchronic sample of speakers (Teo 2019). It is perhaps less often recognized, though, that the aspectual use of already co-exists with the variable marking for past tense in Singlish (Ho & Platt 1993), and that both the aspectual adverb and the past tense may be seen to co-occur in the same construction. The frequency of already in its various functions is examined across two corpora, and the relative frequency of completive vs. non-completive functions is quantified diachronically. It is hypothesized that, rather than grammati...
The study of replica grammaticalisation in contact (Heine & Kuteva 2003, 2005) has not been witho... more The study of replica grammaticalisation in contact (Heine & Kuteva 2003, 2005) has not been without its critics (e.g. Matthews & Yip 2009, Gast & van der Auwera 2012) because of assumptions of a historical linguistic awareness of model language grammaticalisation routes. In Heine & Kuteva’s studies, the contact model language was usually understood to be a substrate or L1. The present study investigates a universal feature of New English dialects and proposes instead a replication of earlier diachronic stages in the lexifier attested up to 1000 years ago. Replication is assisted by the identification and exploitation of extant, lexical source meanings or earlier grammaticalisation stages co-existing with the grammaticalised item in the lexifier, in a situation of contact layering.
Propositional aspect and the development of modal inferences in English Debra Ziegeler National U... more Propositional aspect and the development of modal inferences in English Debra Ziegeler National University of Singapore The alignment of deontic modality with perfective lexical aspect and epistemic modality with imperfective lexical aspect has been observed in a number of ...
The study of mood and modality in grammar was, in previous years, largely affected by the influen... more The study of mood and modality in grammar was, in previous years, largely affected by the influence of philosophical logic and its association with notions of possibility and necessity. A review of typological, comparative data reveals that description in linguistic terms is far from uniform across languages and has little to do with modal logic, the ideal approach to analyzing modality and its expression in grammar being from a diachronic perspective. In such an approach, the diversity in present-day categorization can be predicted from the various historical source forms associated with each modal type, via the general principles of pragmatic inferencing in the context of everyday discourse.
This volume provides a much-needed, critical overview of the field of constructions and construct... more This volume provides a much-needed, critical overview of the field of constructions and construction grammar in the context of Singapore English, and poses the question of identifying a construction in contact when the lexicon is derived from one language and the syntax from another. Case studies are illustrated in which the possibility of a 'merger'-construction is offered to resolve such problems. The book is intended for students of construction theories, variation studies, or any researcher of contact grammars
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