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In:Pragmatic Approaches to Latin and Ancient Greek
Edited by Camille Denizot and Olga Spevak
[Studies in Language Companion Series 190] 2017
► pp. 63–82

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Chapter 4
Discursive and pragmatic functions of Latin em

Grammaticalization, pragmaticalization… interjectionalization?

 | Autonomous University of Madrid
Published online: 1 November 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.190.04unc
Abstract
The Latin particle em, mainly attested in Archaic Latin, is the apocopated form of eme, the imperative of the verb emere ‘to take, acquire, purchase’. The traditional understanding of this element has been that of a secondary interjection. This interpretation, however, presents a number of problems that can be traced to the lack of a pragmatic perspective. In a corpus as old as the comedies of Plautus (c. 254–184 bc), em seems completely grammaticalized and paired with procedural meanings. This paper offers an in-depth analysis of the various discursive and pragmatic functions of em, mainly addressee-oriented and used to regulate the communicative exchange, and compares this Latin unit with similar ones in certain modern languages. In this way, this study not only helps us better understand the procedural meanings of this particular unit, but also offers a diachronic perspective of pragmaticalization phenomena.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Data and methods
  • 2.Etymological content: em imperative of emere
  • 3.Grammaticalization: Presentative function
  • 4.Pragmaticalization: em as a discourse and pragmatic marker
    • 4.1Reference to one’s own discourse
    • 4.2Reference to the interlocutor’s discourse
  • 5.Expression of the speaker’s subjectivity: Interjectionalization?
  • 6.The diachronic axis
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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