Chapter published in:
Grammaticalization meets Construction Grammar
Edited by Evie Coussé, Peter Andersson and Joel Olofsson
[Constructional Approaches to Language 21] 2018
► pp. 75–106

Pseudocoordination in Norwegian

Degrees of grammaticalization and constructional variants

Pseudocoordination in the Scandinavian languages is often claimed to involve grammaticalization. Such coordination is exemplified by Norwegian sitte og lese ‘be reading’ (literally: ‘sit and read’), gå og se ‘go and see’, and løpe rundt og leke ‘run around and play’, where the first verb in some cases expresses partly or even mainly grammatical meaning. Using a large contemporary corpus, the article explores constructional variants involving atelic motion, like løpe rundt ‘run around’. Indicators of grammaticalization such as paradigmatization, bleaching, and decategorialization of the first verb are in focus, as well as the concomitants of grammaticalization in the larger construction. Some first verbs do show signs of grammaticalization, but this is not a general characteristic of the construction.

Keywords: Norwegian, pseudocoordination, verb, grammaticalization, paradigmatization, bleaching, decategorialization, schema, subschema
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2. Pseudocoordination as a construction
    • 2.1Overall structure
    • 2.2The verb slots
    • 2.3 Pseudocoordination and ordinary VP coordination
    • 2.4Constructional meaning
  • 3.Pseudocoordination and grammaticalization
    • 3.1The coordinator
    • 3.2V1 meanings and functions
    • 3.3V1 paradigmatization
    • 3.4Constituents in the postfields
    • 3.5The semantic relation between V1 and V2
    • 3.6The meaning of the construction as a whole
    • 3.7Summary
  • 4.Pseudocoordination of atelic motion
    • 4.1First corpus study: Vr(X)oV
    • 4.2Second corpus study: VoV
    • 4.3Subschema comparison
  • 5.Concluding discussion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 23 May 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.21.c4
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