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

[Ellison Luk]

Dear all,

Just to add that in English, there is a dated interjection "Come (now)"
that has a very similar role to what Christian described for German. (Maybe
in some idiolects it doesn't sound so dated.)

Like in German, the English "come" can be used to draw attention to
something the speaker doesn't find reasonable in the interlocutor's speech
content or stance. And in more modern speech, you could substitute it with
"Hey now", which parallels the link that David observes.

- Ellison

On Sun, 1 Sept 2024, 09:11 Christian Lehmann via Lingtyp, <
lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:

> Dear David,
>
> German has a use of *komm* (imperative of kommen 'come') which may not be
> quite what you are looking for, but certainly similar:
>
> If, in a conversation, A says something that seems unacceptable --
> typically, overstated -- to B, B will start by "Komm komm!" and then
> mostly, though not necessarily, add a sentence that somehow invalidates or
> restricts A's contention. For instance:
>
> A: Linda has never contributed anything to our club.
> B: Komm komm, she has at least organized last year's dinner party.
>
> If I were to explain from Sprachgefühl why the verb 'come' is used in this
> sense, I would think that 'come' here means 'rejoin the communication and
> evaluation basis occupied by the speaker'. Maybe other speakers could
> refine this analysis.
>
> And perhaps a speaker of European Spanish could use the occasion to
> explain what *venga* 'come!' means if it introduces a sentence.
>
> Best, Christian
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20240901/e60b832b/attachment.htm>