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Building Categories in Interaction: Linguistic resources at work
Edited by Caterina Mauri, Ilaria Fiorentini and Eugenio Goria
[Studies in Language Companion Series 220] 2021
► pp. 295–316

Chapter 11
Et cetera, eccetera, etc. The development of a general extender from Latin to Italian

| Università degli Studi di Pavia
| Università di Bologna

This paper discusses the range of functions of et cetera in Latin, as well as the multifunctionality and evolution of eccetera in Italian. Both forms pertain to the category of general extenders, i.e. markers whose main function is to ‘extend’ otherwise grammatically complete utterances. We will propose a qualitative analysis based on data from Latin, Old Italian, and contemporary written and spoken Italian. In particular, we will discuss the semantic-pragmatic expansion of et cetera and eccetera, highlighting how both expressions tend to develop intersubjective and procedural meanings in addition to their original functions. Moreover, since the original components of eccetera are by now blurred in contemporary Italian, we will show how recent developments allow its use in disjunctive contexts.

Keywords: general extenders, Latin, Italian, intersubjectivity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2. Et cetera in Latin
    • 2.1Functions of et cetera
      • 2.1.1Completing lists and marking sets
      • 2.1.2Sharing knowledge and building categories
      • 2.1.3Pragmatic and interpersonal functions
    • 2.2The evolution of et cetera
  • 3.From Latin to Italian
    • 3.1Previous studies on Italian eccetera
    • 3.2Functions of eccetera in contemporary spoken Italian
      • 3.2.1‘There is more’: Completing lists and building categories
      • 3.2.2‘You know what i mean’: Indexing shared knowledge
      • 3.2.3‘There are alternatives’: Disjunctive uses
    • 3.3Recent developments
  • 4.Discussion and conclusive remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 December 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.220.11fio
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