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

[Ezra la Roi]

Dear all,

Perhaps this development then fits well with the developmental pathways by which movement/exchange imperatives gain a range of intersubjective/turn-taking functions, especially sentence-initially. For the following brief list of imperatives in European languages historical linguists have already shown this, though there is ongoing discussion to what degree such developments can be described within a grammaticalization paradigm:
[cid:7bad69a1-4ef2-4bd2-a5c2-3dde1cce20b1]
(la Roi, E. 2022 Weaving Together the Diverse Threads of Category Change: Intersubjective Ἀμέλει ‘of course!’ and Imperative Particles in Ancient Greek<https://benjamins.com/catalog/dia.20031.lar>. Diachronica 39 (2), 151–192 PDF<http://www.ezralaroi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/la-roi-2022-category-change-and-intersubjectification.pdf>)

Of course, the 'here' element asked for in the original query is not always there in these imperative structures, but this deictic element probably need not be explicit in order for a movement imperative to develop the pragmatic function described. The example given by Christian can for example be translated functionally with movement imperatives in Dutch 'kom op' (come on), Flemish Dutch 'allez' (go), English (Ellison), and probably also other European languages. There is by the way some relevant discussion of the diachronic role of deictic elements in movement imperatives from the perspective of embodied motion by Fedriani 2019 ( https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110616347-004/html open access).

All best,

Ezra




--------------------
Dr. Ezra la Roi

Greek, Latin and Indo-European linguistics

https://www.ezralaroi.com/

FWO Ghent University

Δialing – Diachronic and Diatopic Linguistics
GCLA – Ghent Centre for Late Antiquity

________________________________
From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Ellison Luk via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 1, 2024 09:21
To: Christian Lehmann <christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de>
Cc: LINGTYP <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] query: "come here" > "hey" grammaticalization in spoken and sign language

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<mailto: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
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