Cover not available
Article published In:
Studies in Language
Vol. 42:3 (2018) ► pp.641–668

Cyclic renewal of demonstratives

| University of South-Eastern Norway

Demonstratives, broadly defined as a subclass of deictic expressions used for exophoric reference, do not develop through direct grammaticalization (Diessel 1999: 150). The renewal of demonstratives, and the mechanisms and motivations underlying such processes, have not received as much attention as the related negative cycle. Greenberg’s (1978) observation that demonstratives are often replaced by reinforced forms might shed light on this diachronic process, and this study aims to explore this phenomenon further, as well as its connection with grammaticalization. Reinforcement of demonstratives can lead to the development of new demonstratives, which may catalyze the grammaticalization of old ones through paradigmatic competition (niche competition). The analysis presented here sees reinforcement as a possible driving force behind grammaticalization, and not vice versa, as suggested in Diessel (2006: 474) and van Gelderen (2011: 210), among others.

Keywords: demonstratives, grammatical renewal, cyclic change, grammaticalization, Norwegian, recognitional demonstratives, Jespersen’s cycle, demonstrative cycle, niche competition
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Demonstratives and their sources of renewal
    • 2.1Demonstratives
    • 2.2Cyclic renewal
  • 3.Demonstrative reinforcement
    • 3.1Lexical reinforcement
      • 3.1.1‘See’ as a reinforcing expression
      • 3.1.2Locational markers as reinforcing expressions
      • 3.1.3Other reinforcing expressions
    • 3.2Doubling
    • 3.3Affixation
    • 3.4Summary
  • 4.Demonstrative cycles
    • 4.1Schematic overview of stages and outcomes
    • 4.2Niche competition as a catalyst for grammaticalization
    • 4.3Jespersen’s cycle vs. the demonstrative cycle
  • 5.Summary
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
Published online: 19 October 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.17047.vin
References

Bibliography

Ameka, F.
1994 Ewe. In C. Goddard and A. Wierzbicka (eds.), Semantic and lexical universals: Theory and empirical findings, 57–86, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aronoff, M.
2016 Competition and the lexicon. In A. Elia, C. Iacobini, and M. Voghera (eds.), Livelli di Analisi e fenomeni di interfaccia. Atti del XLVII congresso internazionale della società di linguistica Italiana, 39–52, Roma: Bulzoni.Google Scholar
Boye, K. & P. Harder
2012 A usage-based theory of grammatical status and grammaticalization. Language 88(1).1–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bugge, S.
1871 Etymologisk forklaring af nogle pronominer i nordisk. Tidskrift for Philologi og Pædagogik 91. 111–129.Google Scholar
Bybee, J. L.
2003 Mechanisms of change in grammaticization: The role of frequency. In B. D. Joseph and J. Janda (eds.), The Handbook of Historical Linguistics, 602–623, Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clark, E. V.
1987 The principle of contrast: A constraint on language acquisition. In B. MacWhinney (ed.), Mechanisms of Language Acquisition, 1–33, Hillsdale, New Jersey/London: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Clark, H. H., R. Schreuder, & S. Buttrick
1983 Common ground and the understanding of demonstrative reference. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 22(2).245–258. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coventry, K. R., D. Griffiths & C. J. Hamilton
2014 Spatial demonstratives and perceptual space: Describing and remembering object location. Cognitive Psychology 691. 46–70. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Croft, W.
1991 The evolution of negation. Journal of Linguistics 271(11).1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dahl, Ö.
1979 Typology of sentence negation. Linguistics 17(1–2).79–106.Google Scholar
2003 Definite articles in Scandinavian: Competing grammaticalization processes in standard and non-standard varieties. In B. Kortmann (ed.), Dialectology Meets Typology: Dialect Grammar from a Cross-linguistic Perspective, 147–180. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
2004 The growth and maintenance of linguistic complexity. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2015 Grammaticalization in the North: Noun phrase morphosyntax in Scandinavian vernaculars. Berlin: Language Science Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diessel, H.
1999 Demonstratives: Form, Function and Grammaticalization. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006 Demonstratives, joint attention, and the emergence of grammar. Cognitive Linguistics 4(17).463–489.Google Scholar
Dixon, R. M. W.
2003 Demonstratives: A cross-linguistic typology. Studies in Language 27(1).61–112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frantz, D. G.
1997 Blackfoot grammar. Toronto: University of Toronto press.Google Scholar
Fritzner, J.
1896 Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog. Kristiania: Den Norske Forlagsforening.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J. H.
1978 How does a language acquire gender markers. Universals of human language 31. 47–82.Google Scholar
Hansen, E. & L. Heltoft
2011 Grammatik over det Danske Sprog. København: Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab.Google Scholar
Heath, J.
1999 A grammar of Koyra Chiini: the Songhay of Timbuktu. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heggstad, L., F. Hødnebø & E. Simensen
2004 Norrøn ordbok, 4 ed. Oslo: Samlaget.Google Scholar
Heine, B. & T. Kuteva
2002 World Lexicon of Grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heine, B. & H. Narrog
2010 Grammaticalization and linguistic analysis. In B. Heine & H. Narrog (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Analysis, 401–423, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hopper, P. J. & E. C. Traugott
2003 Grammaticalization, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jespersen, O.
1917 Negation in English and other Languages. København: A. F. Høst & Søn.Google Scholar
Johannessen, J. B., J. Priestley, K. Hagen, T. A. Åfarli & Ø. A. Vangsnes
2009 The Nordic Dialect Corpus – an advanced research tool. In K. Jokinen & E. Bick (eds.), Proceedings of the 17th Nordic Conference of Computational Linguistics NODALIDA 2009, 73–80, Tartu: Northern European Association for Language Technology (NEALT).Google Scholar
Johansson, N. & G. Carling
2015 The de-iconization and rebuilding of iconicity in spatial deixis: An Indo-European case study. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia 47(1).4–32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Keller, R.
1994 [1991] On language change: The invisible hand in language London and New York Routledge
König, E.
2015 Manner deixis as source of grammatical markers in indoeuropean languages. In C. Viti (ed.), Perspectives on historical syntax, 33–60, Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Lehmann, C.
2015 Thoughts on Grammaticalization, 3rd ed. Berlin: Language Science Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lie, S.
2008 Veldig sånn festejente. In J. B. Johannessen & K. Hagen (eds.), Språk i Oslo: Ny forskning omkring talespråk, 78–95, Oslo: Novus.Google Scholar
2010 Bakgrunnsdeiksis og demonstrativer. In E. Magnusson Petzell, K. Jóhannesson, I. Larsson, S. -G. Malmgren, L. Rogström & E. Sköldberg (eds.), Bo6ß. Festskrift till Bo Ralph, 168–177, Göteborg: Meijerbergs institut för svensk etymologisk forskning, Göteborgs universitet.Google Scholar
Lundeby, E.
1965 Overbestemt substantiv i norsk og de andre nordiske språk. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.Google Scholar
Lyons, C.
1999 Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maw, J.
1999 Swahili for starters: a practical introductory course. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mosegaard Hansen, M. -B.
2011 Negative cycles and grammaticalization. In H. Narrog & B. Heine (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization, pages 570–579, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Norde, M.
2009 Degrammaticalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Novelli, B.
1985 A grammar of the Karimojong language. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.Google Scholar
Odden, D. A.
1996 The phonology and morphology of Kimatuumbi. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Perridon, H.
1989 Reference, definiteness and the noun phrase in Swedish. . Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam PhD thesis.Google Scholar
Proulx, P.
1988 The demonstrative pronouns of Proto-Algonquian. International journal of American linguistics 54(3).309–330. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Raidt, E. H.
1993 Linguistic variants and language change: Deictic variants in some German and Dutch dialects vis-à-vis Afrikaans. In J. van Marle (ed.), Historical Linguistics 1991. Papers from the 10th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, 281–294, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reh, M.
1985 Die Krongo-Sprache. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.Google Scholar
Reinöhl, U. & N. P. Himmelmann
2017 Renewal: A figure of speech or a process sui generis? Language 93(2).381–413. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rubino, C.
2013 Reduplication. In M. S. Dryer and M. Haspelmath (eds.), The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.Google Scholar
Sohn, H. -M.
1999 The Korean Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, H. -R.
2010 Bengali: A comprehensive grammar. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Torp, A.
1919 Nynorsk etymologisk ordbok. Kristiania: H. Aschehoug & Co..Google Scholar
Trudgill, P.
2011 Sociolinguistic typology: Social determinants of linguistic complexity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tyler, A. & V. Evans
2003 The semantics of English prepositions: Spatial scenes, embodied meaning, and cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van der Auwera, J.
2009 The Jespersen cycles. In E. van Gelderen (ed.), Cyclical change, 35–71, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Gelderen, E.
2011 The linguistic cycle: Language change and the language faculty. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vikør, L.
2001 The Nordic Languages: Their Status and Interrelations. Oslo: Novus.Google Scholar
Vindenes, U.
2018 Complex Demonstratives and Cyclic Change in Norwegian. , Oslo: University of Oslo PhD thesis.Google Scholar
von der Gabelentz, G.
1901 Die Sprachwissenschaft. Ihre Aufgaben, Methoden und bisherigen Ergebnisse. Leipzig: Weigel Nachf..Google Scholar
Willis, D., C. Lucas & A. Breitbarth
2013 Comparing diachronies of negation. In D. Willis, C. Lucas & A. Breitbarth (eds.), The development of negation in the languages of Europe: Volume I Case studies, 1–50, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 6 other publications

Heine, Bernd, Tania Kuteva, Haiping Long, Heiko Narrog & Fang Wu
2020. Where do demonstratives come from?. STUF - Language Typology and Universals 73:3 ► pp. 403 ff. DOI logo
Kinn, Kari & Ida Larsson
2022. Pronominal demonstratives in homeland and heritage Scandinavian. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 45:3 ► pp. 281 ff. DOI logo
Miñana, Pau Martín
2023. L’evolució del demostratiu aqueix durant l’època moderna. In (De)bat a bat, DOI logo
Mosegaard Hansen, Maj-Britt
2020. Introduction. Journal of Historical Pragmatics 21:2 ► pp. 165 ff. DOI logo
Vulchanova, Mila, Jacqueline Collier, Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes & Valentin Vulchanov
2023. Variation in first-generation L1 deictic systems: Language attrition and bilingualism effects. International Journal of Bilingualism 27:1 ► pp. 104 ff. DOI logo
Vulchanova, Mila, Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes, Jacqueline Collier & Valentin Vulchanov
2020. Shrinking Your Deictic System: How Far Can You Go?. Frontiers in Psychology 11 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 june 2024. 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.