Cover not available
Part of
Exaptation and Language Change
Edited by Muriel Norde and Freek Van de Velde
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 336] 2016
► pp. 121–162

Functional changes and (meta-)linguistic evolution

Every time a scientist hears an idea and passes it on to somebody else, he is likely to change it somewhat.(Dawkins 1976 [1989]: 194)
(Dawkins 1976 [1989]: 194)
In this contribution I assess some mainstream approaches to functional changes of grammatical expressions with a focus on two concepts – ‘(secondary) grammaticalization’ and ‘exaptation’. As to the former, I argue that the most influential definition of ‘grammaticalization’ by Kuryłowicz’s (1965) results from a terminological accident rather than from a systematic observation or analysis of linguistic changes. The consequence is that various heterogeneous properties are nowadays associated with one and the same concept. Generally, ‘grammaticalization’ as well as other functional changes discussed in the literature are defined by the status of an expression before and after a change, not by the process itself. On this basis, I will argue that ‘exaptation’ is a concept distinct from other mainstream notions of language change, provided that the context of ‘evolution’ as a principle of variation and change, out of which ‘exaptation’ was brought into linguistics, is taken seriously.
Article outline
  • 1.Linguistic metalanguage
  • Part I.Secondary grammaticalization
    • 2.How ‘grammaticalization’ came to be what it is
      • 2.1From lexical to grammatical – Antoine Meillet
      • 2.2From grammatical to more grammatical – Jerzy Kuryłowicz
      • 2.3Subsequent thoughts about grammaticalization – Christian Lehmann
      • 2.4More about ‘more grammatical’ – “Secondary grammaticalization”
    • 3.How grammaticalization and grammaticalization (do not) connect with each other
    • 4.Formal and functional changes
      • 4.1Keeping apart the insoluble
      • 4.2Declining the cline
  • Part II.Exaptation
    • 5.Functional changes and their names
    • 6.How to motivate ‘exaptation’
      • 6.1Junk as input
      • 6.2Exaptation and language evolution
      • 6.3Spandrel as input
    • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 24 February 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.336.05men
References (72)
References
Allen, Andrew S. 1995. “Regrammaticalization and degrammaticalization of the inchoative suffix.” Historical Linguistics 1993: Selected Papers from the 11th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Los Angeles, 16–20 August 1993 ed. by Henning Andersen. (= Amster­dam Studies in the Theory and history of Linguistic Science. Series IV: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 124), 1–8. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Andersen, Henning. 2006. “Grammation, regrammation, and degrammation: Tense loss in Russian.” Diachronica 23.231–258. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2008. “Grammaticalization in a speaker-oriented theory of change.” Historical Linguistics and the Theory of Grammar. The Rosendal Papers, ed. by Thórhallur Eythórsson. (= Linguistics Today, 113), 11–44. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Askedal, John Ole. 2008. “‘Degrammaticalization’ versus typology: Reflections on a strained relationship.” Grammatical Change and Linguistic Theory: The Rosendal papers, ed. by Thórhallur Eythórsson. (= Linguistics Today, 113). 45–77. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Breban, Tine. 2014. “What is secondary grammaticalization? Trying to see the wood for the trees in a confusion of interpretations.” Folia Linguistica 48.469–502. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2015. “Refining secondary grammaticalization by looking at subprocesses of change.” Language Sciences 47.161–171. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brinton, Laurel J. & Dieter Stein. 1995. “Functional renewal.” Historical Linguistics 1993: Selected Papers from the 11th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Los Angeles, 16–20 August 1993, ed. by Henning Andersen. (= Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and history of Linguistic Science. Series IV: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 174), 33–47.Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bybee, Joan L., William Pagliuca & Revere D. Perkins. 1991. “Back to the Future.” Approaches to Grammaticalization. Volume II: Focus on Types of Grammatical Markers, ed. by Elizabeth Closs Traugott & Bernd Heine. (= Typological Studies in Language, 19.2), 17–58. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bybee, Joan L., Revere Perkins & William Pagliuca. 1994. The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago, Il.; London: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, Lyle. 1991. “Some Grammaticalization Changes in Estonian and their Implications.” Approaches to Grammaticalization. Volume I: Focus on Theoretical and Methodological Issues, ed. by Elizabeth Closs Traugott & Bernd Heine. (= Typological Studies in Language, 19.1), 285–299. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Croft, William. 2000. Explaining Language Change: An Evolutionary Approach. Longman Linguistics Library. Harlow: Pearson.Google Scholar
. 2003. Typology and Universals. Second edition. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
. 2006a. “The relevance of an evolutionary model to historical linguistics.” Competing Models of Linguistic Change: Evolution and Beyond, ed. by Ole Nedergaard Thomsen. (= Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Lingusitic science. Series IV: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 279), 91–132. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2006b. “Evolutionary Modles and Functional-Typological Theories of Language Change.” The Handbook of the History of English, ed. by Ans van Kemenade & Bettelou Los. (= Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics), 68–91. Malden, Ma.; Oxford; Carlton: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Darwin, Charles. 1859. On the Origin of species by means of natural selection: or the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life. London.Google Scholar
Dawkins, Richard. 1976 [1989]. The Selfish Gene. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
De Cuypere, Ludovic. 2005. “Exploring exaptation in language change.” Folia Linguistica Historica 26.13–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dennett, Daniel C. 1995. Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life. New York, et al.: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Detges, Ulrich & Richard Waltereit. 2002. “Grammaticalization vs. Reanalysis: a Semantic-Pragmatic Account of Functional Change in Grammar.” Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 21.151–195. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diewald, Gabriele. 2010. “On some problem areas in grammaticalization studies.” Grammaticalization: Current views and issues, ed. by Katerina Stathi, Elke Gehweiler & Ekkerhard König. (= Studies in Language Companion Series, 119), 17–50. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giacalone Ramat, Anna. 1998. “Testing the boundaries of grammaticalization.” The Limits of Grammaticalization, ed. by Anna Giacalone Ramat & Paul John Hopper. (= Typological Studies in Language, 37), 107–127. Amsterdam: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giacalone Ramat, Anna & Paul J. Hopper. 1998. “Introduction.” The Limits of Grammaticalization, ed. by Anna Giacalone Ramat & Paul J. Hopper. (= Typological Studies in Language, 37), 1–10. Amsterdam: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Givón, Talmy. 1991. “The Evolution of Dependent Clause Morpho-syntax in Biblical Hebrew.” Approaches to Grammaticalization. Volume II: Focus on Types of Grammatical Markers, ed. by Elizabeth Closs Traugott & Bernd Heine. (= Typological Studies in Language, 19.2), 257–310. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gould, Stephen J. 1997. “The exaptive excellence of spandrels as a term and prototype.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94.10750–10755. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gould, Stephen J. & Richard C. Lewontin. 1979. “The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptionist programme.” Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 205.581–898. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gould, Stephen J. & Elisabeth S. Vrba. 1982. “Exaptation – a missing term in the science of form.” Paleobiology 8.4–15.Google Scholar
Greenberg, Joseph H. 1991. “The Last Stages of Grammatical Elements: Contractive and Expansive Desemanticization.” Approaches to Grammaticalization. Volume I: Focus on Theoretical and Methodological Issues, ed. by Elizabeth Closs Traugott & Bernd Heine. (= Typological Studies in Language, 19.1), 301–314. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Greenblatt, Stephen, et al. eds. 1997. The Norton Shakespeare Based on the Oxford Edition: Histories. New York; London: Norton.Google Scholar
Haspelmath, Martin. 2004. “On directionality in language change with particular reference to grammaticalization.” Up and Down the Cline – The Nature of Grammaticalization, ed. by Olga Fischer, Muriel Norde & Harry Perridon. (= Typological Studies in Language, 59), 17–44. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2011. “The gradual coalescence into ‘words’ in grammaticalization.” The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization, ed. by Heiko Narrog & Bernd Heine. (= Oxford Handbooks in Linguistics), 342–355. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd. 2003. “On degrammaticalization.” Historical Linguistics 2001: Selected Papers from the 15th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Melbourne, 13–17 August 2001, ed. by Barry J. Blake & Kate Burridge with the assistance of Jo Taylor. (= Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science. Series IV: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 237), 163–179. Amsterdam: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heine, Bernd, Ulrike Claudi & Friederike Hünnemeyer. 1991. Grammaticalization: A Conceptual Framework. Chicago, Il.; London: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hoenigswald, Henry M. 1963. “Are There Universals of Linguistic Change?” Universals of Language: Report of a Conference Held at Dobbs Ferry, New York, April 13–15, 1961, ed. by Joseph H. Greenberg. Cambridge, Ma; London: MIT Press. 30–52.Google Scholar
Hopper, Paul J. 1987. “Emergent Grammar.” Berkeley Linguistic Society. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting, February 14–16, 1987: General Session and Parasession on Grammar and Cognition, ed. by Jon Aske et al. , 139–157. Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistic Society.Google Scholar
Hopper, Paul J. & Elizabeth Closs Traugott. 2003. Grammaticalization. Second edition. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hull, David L. 1988. Science as a progress: an evolutionary account of the social and conceptual development of science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jacob, François. 1977. “Evolution and Tinkering.” Science 196.1161–1166. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Joseph, Brian D. 2004. “Rescuing traditional (historical) linguistics from grammaticalization theory.” Up and Down the Cline – The Nature of Grammaticalization, ed. by Olga Fischer, Muriel Norde & Harry Perridon. (= Typological Studies in Language, 59), 45–71. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2005. “How Accommodating of Change is Grammaticalization? The Case of ‘Lateral Shifts’.” Logos and Language 6.1–7.Google Scholar
2011. “Grammaticalization: a general critique.” The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization, ed. by Heiko Narrog & Bernd Heine. (= Oxford Handbooks in Linguistics), 193–205. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2014. “What counts as (an instance of) grammaticalization?” Folia Linguistica 48.361–383. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Keller, Rudi. 1990. Sprachwandel: Von der unsichtbaren Hand in der Sprache. (= Uni-Taschenbücher, 1567). Tübingen: Francke.Google Scholar
. 1994. Language Change: The Invisible Hand in Language, translated by Brigitte Nerlich. London; New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kuhle, Anneliese. 2014. “Language as tool: The analogy to primate cognition.” Language and Communication 34.1–16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kuryłowicz, Jerzy. 1964. The Inflectional Categories of Indo-European. (= Indogermanische Bibliothek. Dritte Reihe: Untersuchungen.) Heidelberg: Winter.Google Scholar
. 1965. “The evolution of grammatical categories.” Diogenes 51.55–71. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
, ed. 1975. Esquisses linguistiques II. (= Internationale Bibliothek für allgemeine Linguistik, 37). München: Fink.Google Scholar
Lass, Roger. 1988. “How to do things with junk: exaptation in language evolution.” Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics 17.33–62.Google Scholar
. 1990. “How to do things with junk: exaptation in language evolution.” Journal of Linguistics 26.79–102. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1997. Historical Linguistics and Language Change. (= Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, 81.) Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lehmann, Christian. 1982. Thoughts on Grammaticalization: A programmatic sketch. (= Arbeiten des Kölner Universalien-Projekts, 48.) Köln: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, Universität zu Köln (Typescript).Google Scholar
. 1995. Thoughts on Grammaticalization. Revised and expanded version. First published edition. (= LINCOM Studies in Theoretical Linguistics, 1). München; Newcastle: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
. 2015. Thoughts on Grammaticalization. 3rd edition. (=Classics in Linguistics, 1). Berlin: Language Science Press.Google Scholar
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1962. La pensée sauvage. Paris: Plon.Google Scholar
Meillet, A[ntoine]. 1912. “L’évolution des formes grammaticales.” Scientia (Rivista di Scienza) 6/12.384–400.Google Scholar
von Mengden, Ferdinand & Horst J. Simon. 2014. “What is it then, this Grammaticalization?” Folia Linguistica 48.347–60.Google Scholar
Nørgård-Sørensen, Jens, Lars Heltoft & Lene Schøsler. 2011. Connecting Grammaticalisation. (= Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics, 65). Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Norde, Muriel. 2009. Degrammaticalization. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2001. “Deflexion as a counterdirectional factor in grammatical change.” Language Sciences 23.231–264. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sapir, Edward. 1921. Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.Google Scholar
Simon, Horst J. 2010. “‘Exaptation’ in der Sprachwandeltheorie: Eine Begriffpräzisierung.” Prozesse sprachlicher Verstärkung: Typen formaler Resegmentierung und semantischer Remotivierung, hg. von Rüdiger Harnisch. (= Linguistik – Impulse & Tendenzen, 37), 41–57. Berlin; New York: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Tauli, Valter. 1958. The Structural Tendencies of Languages. I: General Tendencies. (= Suomalaisen tiedeakatemian toimituksia. Sarja B 115,1). Helsinki: Akateeminen kirjakauppa.Google Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth 2001. “Legitimate counterexamples to unidirectionality.” Paper presented at the University of Freiburg, 17 October 2001. See [URL]. Last access26 April 2015.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 2002. “From etymology to historical pragmatics.” Studies in the History of the English Language: A Millenial Perspective, ed. by Donka Minkova & Robert Stockwell. (= Topics in English Linguistics, 39), 19–49. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth C. & Graeme Trousdale. 2013. Constructionalization and Constructional Change. (= Oxford Studies in Diachronic and Historical Linguistics, 6). Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van de Velde, Freek. 2014. “Degeneracy: the maintainance of constructional networks.” The Extending Scope of Construction Grammar, ed. by Ronny Boogaart, Timothy Colleman & Gijsbert Rutten. (= Cognitive Linguistic Research, 54), 141–179. Berlin; Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Vincent, Nigel. 1995. “Exaptation and grammaticalization.” Historical Linguistics 1993: Selected Papers from the 11th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Los Angeles, 16–20 August 1993, ed. by Henning Andersen. (= Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and history of Linguistic Science. Series IV: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 124), 433–445. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wegener, Heide. 2008. “The regrammaticalization of linking elements in German.” Theoretical and Empirical Issues in Grammaticalization, ed. by Elena Seoane & María José López-­Couso in collaboration with Teresa Fanego. (= Typological Studies in Language, 77), 333–355. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamins. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Winter-Froemel, Esme. 2014. “Re(de)fining grammaticalization from a usage-based perspective: Discoursive ambiguity in innovation scenarios.” Folia Linguistica 48.503–556. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zeige, Lars Erik. 2011. Sprachwandel und soziale Systeme. (= Germanistische Linguistik Mono­graphien, 27). Hildesheim; Zürich; New York: Olms.Google Scholar
Žirmunskij, Viktor M. 1961. “O granicach slova.” Voprosy jazykoznanija 3.3–21.Google Scholar
1966 [1961]. “The word and its boundaries.” Linguistics 27.65–91.Google Scholar
Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

Camiel Hamans & Hans Henrich Hock
2024. Language, History, Ideology, DOI logo
Scarano, F. R., A. C. F. Aguiar, V. L. Holz, A. L. de Macedo, A. Lombardi, L. S. dos Santos & F. Koch
2024. Plant-life vocabulary as metaphors for post-normal planetary challenges. Theoretical and Experimental Plant Physiology 36:3 ► pp. 399 ff. DOI logo
von Mengden, Ferdinand & Anneliese Kuhle
2020. Recontextualization and language change. Folia Linguistica 54:s41-s1 ► pp. 253 ff. DOI logo
Rupp, Laura & David Britain
2019. Verbal –s. In Linguistic Perspectives on a Variable English Morpheme, ► pp. 25 ff. DOI logo
Rupp, Laura & David Britain
2019. Verbal –s in Existential there Sentences. In Linguistic Perspectives on a Variable English Morpheme, ► pp. 237 ff. DOI logo
Koutsoukos, Nikos
2018. Constructional change on the contentful-procedural gradient. In Category change from a constructional perspective [Constructional Approaches to Language, 20], ► pp. 263 ff. DOI logo
Van de Velde, Freek
2018. Iterated Exaptation. In The Construction of Words [Studies in Morphology, 4], ► pp. 519 ff. DOI logo
Konvička, Martin
2017. Ars obligatoria: searching for the medieval roots of obligatoriness. Language & History 60:3 ► pp. 153 ff. DOI logo
Konvička, Martin
2017. De opkomst van de Nederlandse grammatica. Over grammaticalisatie en andere verwante ontwikkelingen in de geschiedenis van het Nederlands, DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.