Motivation offers a viable middle ground to extreme positions that are clearly untenable. Here I consider the semantic motivation of grammar, as exemplified by the English auxiliary. Properly characterized in terms of systems of elements serving particular semantic functions, the auxiliary is seen as being efficient and highly motivated. Its apparent idiosyncrasies reflect the functions served and the meanings of the elements employed.
2020. The Cognitive Motivation Behind the Semantics of Hungarian Co-Verbial Constructions with Össze and Szét
. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric 61:1 ► pp. 31 ff.
LORENZ, DAVID
2016. Form does not follow function, but variation does: the origin and early usage of possessive havegot in English. English Language and Linguistics 20:3 ► pp. 487 ff.
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