Overview

This textbook introduces and explains the fundamental issues, major research questions, and current approaches in the study of grammaticalization - the development of new grammatical forms from lexical items, and of further grammatical functions from existing grammatical forms. Grammaticalization has been a vibrant research field in recent years, and has proven effective in explaining a wide range of phenomena; it has even been claimed that the only true language universals are diachronic, and are related to cross-linguistic processes of grammaticalization. The chapters provide a detailed account of the major issues in the field: foundational questions such as directionality, criteria and parameters of grammaticalization, and phases and cycles; the much-debated issue of the motivations behind grammaticalization, including the role of language contact and typological influences; the advantages and disadvantages of different theoretical approaches; and the relationship between grammaticalization and process such as lexicalization, exaptation, and the development of discourse markers. Each chapter offers guidance on further reading, and concludes with study questions to encourage further discussion; there is also a glossary of key terminology in the field. Thanks to its comprehensive approach, the volume will serve as both a textbook for undergraduate and graduate students and a valuable reference work for researchers in the field.

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9780198747857

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Reviews

This is the first comprehensive treatment of grammaticalization in nearly twenty years, written by two very renowned scholars in the field. Its range and scope are impressive. The text is remarkably up-to-date and cites a wealth of scholarship, often reconciling contrasting theories and concepts. The terminological morass of grammaticalization studies is faced head on, with light shed on a number of problematic terms, such as scope, bleaching, and decategorialization. Examples are taken from a wide range of languages, including many non-Indo-European ones. The text is essential reading for advanced students of grammaticalization as well as seasoned scholars. * Laurel Brinton, University of British Columbia * This new textbook provides an excellent understanding of grammaticalization and the mechanisms it uses. It provides an overview of various definitions and presents exciting examples, using very up-to-date studies. A variety of approaches to grammaticalization is discussed, as well as the possible motivations for the changes involved. The authors consider broader issues as well, e.g. typology and language contact, and go beyond grammaticalization in discussing lexicalization and de/regrammaticalization. * Elly van Gelderen, Arizona State University *

Author Information

Heiko Narrog is Professor at the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University. He received a PhD in Japanese Studies from the Ruhr University Bochum in 1997, and a PhD in Language Studies from Tokyo University in 2002. His publications include Modality in Japanese and the Layered Structure of the Clause (Benjamins, 2009), and Modality, Subjectivity, and Semantic Change: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective (OUP, 2012) as well as numerous articles in linguistic typology, semantics and language change, and Japanese linguistics. Bernd Heine is Emeritus Professor at the Institute of African Studies and Egyptology, University of Cologne. He has held visiting professorships at universities across the world, and in 2009 received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Evolutionary Linguistics Association. His many publications include African Languages: An Introduction (CUP, 2000), A Linguistic Geography of Africa (CUP, 2008), and the OUP volumes The Changing Languages of Europe (2006) and The Genesis of Grammar: A Reconstruction (2007), both with Tania Kuteva. Heiko Narrog and Bernd Heine are co-editors of the OUP volumes The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Analysis (2010; second edition 2015), The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization (2010; paperback 2021), and Grammaticalization from a Typological Perspective (2018).

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