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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">Dear all,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">I am interested in an apparent path of grammaticalization in which an
expression meaning "come here" is reinterpreted as an exclamation whose
effect seems to be to draw the interlocutor's attention to the speaker.<span> </span>I am familiar with two such cases and would like
to know if any of you happen to be familiar with others.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">The first is from Hebrew, in which <i>bo hena</i> (come.IMP.2SGM
here), reduced to <i>boena</i>, may be used to begin an utterance, with an
effect rather like English <i>hey</i>, as in<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">Boena yored gešem<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">BOENA descend.PRS.SGM rain<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">'Hey it's raining'<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">The reduced nature of the form is often reflected by its orthographic
representation as a single word: </span><span lang="HE" dir="RTL" style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">בוא הנה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> > </span><span lang="HE" dir="RTL" style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">בואנה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">The second case is from the home sign used by a single deaf child and his
hearing friends in Sorong, on the western tip of New Guinea.<span> </span>The signers make use of a "come here"
gesture that is widespread in many parts of the world, in which the hand is
extended forward with the palm facing downward, and then makes one or more </span><span lang="EN-US">sweeping </span><span lang="EN-US">downward motions, iconically suggesting movement from the interlocutor to the
signer.<span> </span>However, in this usage, the same
gesture is used not to mean "come here", but rather to attract the
interlocutor's attention, as a prelude to a further signed message.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">I would appreciate any other examples you might be familiar with of similar
paths of grammaticalization derived from "come here", in either
spoken or signed language.<span> </span>For what it's
worth, Heine and Kuteva's (2002) <i>World Lexicon of Grammaticalization</i>
provides examples of COME > HORTATIVE grammaticalization, which is perhaps
in the same ballpark, but not quite the same thing.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">Thanks,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">David<span></span></span></p>
<br clear="all"><br><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><pre cols="72">David Gil
Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
Email: <a href="mailto:dapiiiiit@gmail.com" target="_blank">dapiiiiit@gmail.com</a>
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302</pre>
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