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Article published In:
The Role of Pragmatics in Cyclic Language Change
Edited by Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen
[Journal of Historical Pragmatics 21:2] 2020
► pp. 236–262

Semasiological cyclicity in the evolution of discourse markers

A case from Sicilian

| University of Catania

This study addresses the evolution of the Sicilian discourse marker mentri to explore the concept of cyclicity in semantic–pragmatic change. Stemming from Latin dŭm ĭntĕrim (‘while, in the meantime’), the temporal conjunction develops – like its Romance cognates – an adversative function meaning ‘whereas’, which further evolves from an oppositional to a counter-expectational contrast value meaning ‘though’. The latter serves as a bridging context for the emergence of discourse-pragmatic uses and is examined below. Mentri evolves as discourse marker: formally, it gains greater syntactic and positional independence, and it increases in scope; functionally, it displays both textual and interpersonal values. In its overall path, mentri shows a cyclical change in respect to the adversative function: oppositional contrast emerges out of the temporal meaning, it then develops into counter-expectation, and it eventually fades into the discourse-pragmatic values. The rise of mentri as a discourse marker is thus interpreted as a case of cyclicity from a semasiological perspective.

Keywords: cyclicity, discourse markers, semasiology, Sicilian
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Discourse markers: Synchronic definition and diachronic understanding
    • 1.2Area of research and data collection
  • 2.A synchronic account of the functions of mentri
    • 2.1Temporal uses
    • 2.2Adversative uses
    • 2.3Discourse-marking uses
  • 3.A diachronic reconstruction of the emergence of mentri as a DM
    • 3.1From temporal simultaneity to oppositional contrast
    • 3.2From oppositional to counter-expectational contrast
    • 3.3From counter-expectational contrast to discourse-marking
  • 4.Conclusion: The evolution of mentri as a case of semasiological cyclicity
    • 4.1The concept of cyclicity in language change
    • 4.2The evolution of mentri as a semasiological cycle
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 3 March 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.00043.sci
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