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In:At the Crossroads of Historical and Cognitive Linguistics
Edited by Anna Rogos-Hebda and Heli Tissari
[Figurative Thought and Language 21] 2026
► pp. 122–146

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Prototypes, (inter)subjectification, figurativity and semantic change

Evidence from Portuguese

 | Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Published online: 29 January 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.21.06das
Abstract
The paper discusses the impact of prototypicality, (inter)subjectification and conceptual metaphor/metonymy on semantic change, both lexical and constructional. The development of the verb deixar ‘leave, let’ from Latin to Modern Portuguese is a prime example of prototypicality effects in metonymic and metaphorical semasiological and onomasiological change. The development of letting causation of the construction deixar + infinitive/that-clause illustrates how (inter)subjectification results from metonymic-metaphorical changes of the original prototype ‘let go’. The evolution of the diminutive/augmentative suffixes from Old to Modern Portuguese, especially the evaluative and interactional uses, and the recent development of the discourse marker uses of the adjective pronto ‘ready, quick’ display (inter)subjectification processes stemming from metaphorical-metonymic changes. These three case studies show how prototypicality, (inter)subjectification, and metaphor/metonymy dynamically interact.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Semantic change, cognition and discourse
  • 3.Prototypes and semantic change
  • 4.(Inter)subjectification and semantic change
  • 5.Conceptual metaphor/metonymy, prototypicality and (inter)subjectification
  • 6.Case studies
    • 6.1The diachronic development of the verb deixar ‘to leave, to let’, from Latin to Modern Portuguese
    • 6.2The evolution of the diminutive and augmentative suffixes, from Old to Modern Portuguese
    • 6.3The development of the discourse marker pronto ‘ready, quick’, from the middle of the 20th century onwards
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (50)
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