[Lingtyp] query: "come here" > "hey" grammaticalization in spoken and sign language

[David Gil]

Dear all,



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.  I
am familiar with two such cases and would like to know if any of you happen
to be familiar with others.



The first is from Hebrew, in which *bo hena* (come.IMP.2SGM here), reduced
to *boena*, may be used to begin an utterance, with an effect rather like
English *hey*, as in



Boena yored gešem

BOENA descend.PRS.SGM rain

'Hey it's raining'



The reduced nature of the form is often reflected by its orthographic
representation as a single word: בוא הנה > בואנה.



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.  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 sweeping downward motions, iconically suggesting
movement from the interlocutor to the signer.  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.



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.  For what it's worth, Heine and Kuteva's (2002) *World
Lexicon of Grammaticalization* provides examples of COME > HORTATIVE
grammaticalization, which is perhaps in the same ballpark, but not quite
the same thing.



Thanks,



David


-- 

David Gil

Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

Email: dapiiiiit at gmail.com
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302
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