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<p>Just a brief comment on the thought-provoking comments by Alex
and Daniel:</p>
<p>A distinction is to be made between a process and the state or
property resulting from the process, like 'grammaticalize' and
'grammaticalized'. These are clearly different concepts. It is a
defect of the English language that a passive participle
predicate, as in <i>is grammaticalized</i>, is ambiguous between
the process and its result. Likewise, abstract nouns like <i>grammaticalization</i>
often do not only designate a process, but also its result. It can
clearly be useful to distinguish the two terminologically, like <i>grammaticalized</i>
(process) and <i>grammaticized</i> (result), and likewise with <i>grammaticalization</i>
and <i>grammaticization</i>. This, however, has nothing to do
with diachrony vs. synchrony.<br>
</p>
<p>A process may produce a result that remains in the system even
after the process itself is no longer operative in the language.
For instance, for some time there may be variation as to whether a
certain syntactic construction is formed by rules of grammar or is
lexicalized. If you look at the variation synchronically, you do
not see its direction. However, once the result of the process,
viz. the lexicalized expression, becomes part of the system while
the syntactic construction gets lost, the system is changed.
Looking at the phenomenon diachronically, including the phase of
variation and the resultant phase, you do see the direction in the
process. What differs is the viewpoint, viz. synchrony vs.
diachrony. With it change the methodological possibilities and,
consequently, the possible insights. The nature of the process
itself remains unaffected; it is always lexicalization, a process
of directed variation. The same goes for assimilation, metaphora
and all the other examples of directed variation. </p>
<p>Christian<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<p style="font-size:90%">Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann<br>
Rudolfstr. 4<br>
99092 Erfurt<br>
<span style="font-variant:small-caps">Deutschland</span></p>
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