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Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 39:5 (2022) ► pp.658–706

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Correlated grammaticalization

The rise of articles in Indo-European

ORCiD logo with link | University of CaliforniaLos Angeles
Published online: 1 June 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.20033.gol
Abstract
Grammaticalization is characterized by robust directional asymmetries (e.g., Kuteva, Tania, Bernd Heine, Bo Hong, Haiping Long, Heiko Narrog & Seongha Rhee. 2019. World lexicon of grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2nd edn. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). For instance, body-part nominals develop into spatial adpositions, minimizers develop into negation markers and subject pronouns become agreement markers. Changes in the opposite direction are either rare or unattested (Garrett, Andrew J. 2012. The historical syntax problem: Reanalysis and directionality. In Dianne Jonas, John Whitman & Andrew J. Garrett (eds.), Grammatical change: Origins, nature, outcomes, 52–72. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 52). Such robust cross-linguistic asymmetries have led some scholars to reify grammaticalization trajectories as universal mechanistic forces (Heath, Jeffrey. 1998. Hermit crabs: Formal renewal of morphology by phonologically mediated affix substitution. Language 741. 728–759. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 729). One consequence of such a view is that the ambient morphosyntax of a language has little or even no relevance for grammaticalization. This paper uses Bayesian phylogenetic methods to demonstrate the critical role that pre-existing morphosyntax can play in grammaticalization. The empirical basis for this claim is the grammaticalization of definite and indefinite articles in the history of Indo-European: indefinite articles developed at a faster rate among languages in which a definite article had already emerged compared to those lacking a definite article. The two changes are thus correlated. The results of this case study suggest that there is much more to be learned about when and why grammaticalization occurs by investigating its relationship to the pre-existing linguistic system (cf. Reinöhl, Uta & Nikolaus P. Himmelmann. 2017. Renewal: A figure of speech or a process sui generis? Language 93(2). 381–413. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 381).
Résumé
Les phénomènes de grammaticalisation se caractérisent par de fortes asymétries directionnelles (e.g., Kuteva, Tania, Bernd Heine, Bo Hong, Haiping Long, Heiko Narrog & Seongha Rhee. 2019. World lexicon of grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2nd edn. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) : les noms des parties du corps, par exemple, deviennent des adpositions spatiales, les minimiseurs scalaires des adverbes négatifs, et les pronoms sujets des marques d’accord. À l’inverse, les changements en direction opposée sont rares voire inattestés (Garrett, Andrew J. 2012. The historical syntax problem: Reanalysis and directionality. In Dianne Jonas, John Whitman & Andrew J. Garrett (eds.), Grammatical change: Origins, nature, outcomes, 52–72. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 52). Le fait que ces asymétries paraissent universelles a conduit certains chercheurs à réifier ces processus de grammaticalisation et à en faire des mécanismes linguistiques universels (Heath, Jeffrey. 1998. Hermit crabs: Formal renewal of morphology by phonologically mediated affix substitution. Language 741. 728–759. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 729). Une telle conception implique notamment que la morphosyntaxe d’une langue donnée n’aurait que peu d’influence, voire même aucune, sur les processus de grammaticalisation. L’objectif principal de cet article est de montrer le rôle crucial que la morphosyntaxe d’origine peut avoir dans les phénomènes de grammaticalisation. L’étude de cas sur laquelle s’appuie cet article est la grammaticalisation des articles définis et indéfinis à travers l’histoire des langues indo-européennes : on observe que les articles indéfinis se développent plus rapidement dans les langues où un article défini a déjà vu le jour que dans celles qui n’en ont pas. Ces deux changements sont donc interreliés. Les résultats de cette recherche semblent indiquer que l’étude du rapport entre le système linguistique préexistant et les processus de grammaticalisation qui s’y produisent pourrait grandement nous renseigner sur les contextes et les causes de ces processus (cf. Reinöhl, Uta & Nikolaus P. Himmelmann. 2017. Renewal: A figure of speech or a process sui generis? Language 93(2). 381–413. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 381).
Zusammenfassung
Grammatikalisierungspfade sind durch starke Asymmetrien genkennzeichnet (z.B., Kuteva, Tania, Bernd Heine, Bo Hong, Haiping Long, Heiko Narrog & Seongha Rhee. 2019. World lexicon of grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2nd edn. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). So entwickeln sich beispielsweise Körperteilnomina zu räumlichen Adpositionen. Minimierer entwickeln sich zu Negationsmarkern und Subjektpronomen werden zu Übereinstimmungsmarkern. Veränderungen in die entgegengesetzte Richtung sind entweder selten oder nicht belegt (Garrett, Andrew J. 2012. The historical syntax problem: Reanalysis and directionality. In Dianne Jonas, John Whitman & Andrew J. Garrett (eds.), Grammatical change: Origins, nature, outcomes, 52–72. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 52). Solche robusten sprachenübergreifenden Asymmetrien haben einige Wissenschaftler dazu veranlasst, Grammatikalisierungspfade als universelle mechanistische Kräfte zu behandeln (Heath, Jeffrey. 1998. Hermit crabs: Formal renewal of morphology by phonologically mediated affix substitution. Language 741. 728–759. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 729). Eine Folge einer solchen Sichtweise ist, dass die Morphosyntax einer Sprache wenig oder sogar keine Relevanz für die Grammatikalisierung hat. Das Hauptziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die entscheidende Rolle aufzuzeigen, die bereits existierende Morphosyntax bei der Grammatikalisierung spielen kann. Die empirische Grundlage für diese Annahme ist die Grammatikalisierung bestimmter und unbestimmter Artikel in der Geschichte des Indogermanischen: unbestimmte Artikel entwickelten sich schneller bei Sprachen, in denen ein bestimmter Artikel bereits entstanden war, als bei solchen, die keinen bestimmten Artikel hatten. Die beiden Änderungen sind somit korreliert. Die Ergebnisse dieser Fallstudie legen nahe, dass man über das Wann und Warum einer Grammatikalisierung viel mehr erfahren kann, wenn man ihre Beziehung zum bereits existierenden Sprachsystem untersucht (vgl. Reinöhl, Uta & Nikolaus P. Himmelmann. 2017. Renewal: A figure of speech or a process sui generis? Language 93(2). 381–413. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 381).
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Claims
  • 2.What are articles?
    • 2.1Three necessary and sufficient conditions for articlehood
    • 2.2Referential types
    • 2.3Disputed determiners
      • 2.3.1Singhalese
    • 2.4Cross-linguistic comparison
  • 3.Article inventories in Indo-European
    • 3.1A history of gain
    • 3.2Establishing precedence
  • 4.Data and methods
    • 4.1Coding the data
    • 4.2Phylogenetic trees
    • 4.3Transition rates
    • 4.4Model comparison
    • 4.5Informative priors
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Posterior distributions of the rate parameters
    • 5.2Model comparison
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1The directionality question
    • 6.2The correlation question
    • 6.3The exceptions
    • 6.4The role of language contact
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
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