33.169, Review: Historical Linguistics; Sociolinguistics; Syntax: Narrog, Heine (2021)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-33-169. Tue Jan 18 2022. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 33.169, Review: Historical Linguistics; Sociolinguistics; Syntax: Narrog, Heine (2021)

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Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2022 09:09:10
From: Jack Pruett [jrp157 at georgetown.edu]
Subject: Grammaticalization

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36750357


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/32/32-2563.html

AUTHOR: Heiko  Narrog
AUTHOR: Bernd  Heine
TITLE: Grammaticalization
SERIES TITLE: Oxford Textbooks in Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press
YEAR: 2021

REVIEWER: Jack Pruett, Georgetown Univeristy

SUMMARY

The purpose of this book is to provide an in-depth discussion of the topic of
grammaticalization (“[g]rammaticalization is the development from lexical to
grammatical forms and once the grammatical form has evolved, the development
of further grammatical forms. Since the development of grammatical forms takes
place in specific contexts and constructions, the study of grammaticalization
is also concerned with constructions and context, including even larger
discourse segments”) and is intended for use by students and scholars alike to
build a foundational understanding of the topic and to prepare them for their
own research (Narrog & Heine 2021: 1). This book is in-between what one may
consider to be a textbook and a general research book. It covers a wide
variety of topics, providing clear examples from many languages of the world
(including English, Spanish, Bulgarian, Navajo, Russian, Swahili, Rapanui,
Portuguese, Tol, Latin, German, Kashubian, Yoruba, Sranan, French, Kabba,
Norwegian, Thai, Basque, Yup’ik, Cherokee, Bari, Mandarin, Dutch, Afrikaans,
Japanese, among others), and lays out a good framework for approaching
grammaticalization research.

The book begins by laying out the necessary foundational points to situate the
reader in a good position to understand the topic of grammaticalization.
Chapter two lays out a list of parameters/principles that can be used to
assess grammaticalization. The third chapter focuses on the parameters of
grammaticalization, outlining the processes which lead a form to become
grammaticalized. The authors propose a theory in which there are four
principles for grammaticalization: Extension (the expanded semantics of a
given form from more constrained meanings to less constrained ones),
Desemanticization (the loss of semantic properties related to the original
lexical item), Decategorization ( changing from one syntactic category to
another), and Erosion (the loss of phonological content within the
grammaticalized form). The authors go on to state how these principles are
applied in that order to account for the unidirectionality of
grammaticalization. That is, the grammaticalization process proceeds in a
linear fashion, beginning with Extension and ending with Erosion. This next
chapter, in some ways, devolves into a discussion on semantics and semantic
change. Entire sections are dedicated to changes in the use of modals in
various languages (especially English). This, while possibly relevant in terms
of theory (Extension), does not relate directly to the process of
grammaticalization. Chapter five lays out a good roadmap for how
grammaticalization develops cross-linguistically. This chapter was filled with
good examples and clearly gave a description of both the diachrony and
synchrony of grammaticalization and its many sub-processes. Chapter six starts
out as an excellent outline of topics that cause grammaticalization. The
outline of ideas given in this chapter offers interesting theoretical
proposals and testable hypotheses for further investigation into what drives
grammaticalization. Chapter seven provides an interesting perspective on
grammaticalization with respect to language contact. The Basque case study is
quite convincing. The authors were able to show that certain constructions
borrowed from French/Spanish/Gascon are at different stages of
grammaticalization from the constructions in those languages respectively.
“The examples provided may have shown that the grammatical development of the
Basque language over the last centuries was shaped to quite some extent by
contact-induced grammaticalization … changing inherited patterns of language
use and norms in the direction of the model languages” (202). Additionally,
the authors show that there are diachronic data indicating that these borrowed
constructions are in different stages than when they started to appear in the
written records centuries ago. They therefore show that Basque borrowed
certain constructions and those constructions have gone through various stages
of grammaticalization. The next chapters provide an overview of the ways
different theoretical backgrounds may approach grammaticalization. Since they
tackle many topics across three chapters, I will not break down each
chapter/topic individually. It is well described and largely accurate. There
are interesting questions that arise such as: Why is generative grammar or
construction grammar incompatible with grammaticalization? Incorporation of
grammaticalization into theoretical schema is a necessary step that all
theories should strive for. This chapter opens the door to discussion about
how and why those questions must be asked and addressed. Finally, the authors
provide a discussion on lexicalization, “[which] can be simply defined as a
process by which linguistic units enter the lexicon that previously had a
different status (cf. Wischer 2000; Lightfoot 2011)”, which serves as an
excellent source for distinguishing grammaticalization (becoming a part of the
grammar from the lexicon) from other processes that seem related (maybe they
are) on the surface (271). The final chapter (12) summarizes the points of the
book and lays out clearly the theory that is being proposed by the authors.
“We argued in particular that [grammaticalization] can uniquely explain a
variety of language phenomena. Grammaticalization can be understood as a
‘mid-level’ explanation in that grammaticalization itself is driven by deeper
motivations such as cognition and communication” (328). The core theory is
that grammaticalization is a unidirectional process, driven by semantic
change, and consisting of four principal stages, Extension, Desemanticization,
Decategorization, and Erosion. The authors make it clear that not all items
that begin grammaticalization finish all four stages; rather
grammaticalization is a gradual process that does not always result in a
complete cycle.

EVALUATION

The book is well-written, easy to follow, and appropriately balanced for both
in-depth and broad understandings of grammaticalization. The layout of the
book is appropriate for explaining what grammaticalization is, how it works,
examples of it at work, and theoretical questions surrounding the topic.
Overall, this book gives a good outline of the process and current research on
grammaticalization. This book lays out a particular theory for how
grammaticalization works, its stages, and the outcomes that arise during the
grammaticalization process. This book supports its claims with a wonderful
breadth of examples from many world languages, drawing on universals, and
showing an overarching pattern. Despite these strengths, I think the book
could have been improved with more concrete examples and descriptions of the
types of words that tend to be grammaticalized cross-linguistically and the
processes for certain grammatical features. Much more could have been said and
expanded upon with respect to how grammaticalization affects morphology and
the phonological processes that are commonly associated with
grammaticalized/ing items.

Moreover, in the chapter concerning grammaticalization and language contact,
the authors provide a series of examples that struck me as erroneous with
respect to the analysis at hand. Many of the examples seem to be those of
language contact and borrowing and not necessarily grammaticalization. Just
because a language borrows a structure does not mean it has been
grammaticalized, and the authors acknowledge that point yet seem to ignore
that argument in explaining their own data. When undergoing scholarly research
it is important to distinguish that which is merely correlated from that which
is in a cause and effect relationship. I believe that the authors fail to
clarify these points and do not justify the examples with relevant and
necessary analysis and explanation.

Furthermore, at many points in this book the authors diverge into deep
analysis of semantic change. Although they clarify that the stance in the book
is that grammaticalization is solely semantically driven, such a focus on the
semantics and on sometimes irrelevant discussions detracted from the
empirically rich and impressive content of the book with respect to
grammaticalization. It would have been nice to see how certain grammaticalized
items exhibit these semantic changes, rather than just saying they exist and
showing examples of semantic change independent of grammaticalization. While
the goal is to show that the maximal end of grammaticalization results in
discourse markers by means of Extension, it would have sufficed to say that a
shift from lexical item to discourse marker happens through gradual
abstraction. This would have served better in a book about semantic shift or
about modality, not in a book about grammaticalization. In addition, I
recommend the authors not focus so much on semantics and explain more clearly
the relevance of their points with respect to grammaticalization. If the
authors wish to take the stance that semantics is the core that is driving
grammaticalization, they should provide data, clearly describe how this proves
their point, and discuss other perspectives, explaining why those do not fit
the data. Much of these sections feel like the authors are telling the reader
that a particular semantic process is a given fact of grammaticalization
without clearly explaining its relationship to or relevance for
grammaticalization.

If the authors sought to broadly cover grammaticalization in this book, as at
points they seemed to indicate was their intention, I believe that this book
falls short of being sufficiently comprehensive. More attention to the other
subfields of linguistics with respect to grammaticalization could have been
addressed in such a case. That said, and all criticisms aside, the book
provides a wonderfully in-depth discussion of semantic views on
grammaticalization. The theory put forth in this book provides many testable
hypotheses and gives plenty of empirical evidence to earn its place as a
robust theory of grammaticalization. This book addresses the problems that may
arise given the theory presented and leaves questions for future research.
Finally, it provides excellent discussion questions, extra reading material,
and the right amount of complex-to-easy content that students taking a class
on historical linguistics, grammaticalization, or related disciplines, as well
as any scholar embarking on grammaticalization research would highly benefit
from.

REFERENCES

Lightfoot, Douglas J. 2011. Grammaticalization and lexicalization. In: Narrog,
Heiko and Bernd Heine (eds.) “Handbook of Grammaticalization”, 438-49. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.

Wischer, Ilse. 2000. Grammaticalization versus lexicalization: ‘Methinks’
there is some confusion. In: Fischer, Olga, Anette Rosenbach, and Dieter Stein
(eds.) “Pathways of Change: Grammaticalization in English”, 355-70. Amsterdam:
Benjamins.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

I am a graduate student affiliated with Georgetown University. I am a current
PhD student in the Theoretical Linguistics PhD program. My research primarily
focuses on morphophonology, particularly assessing prosodic morphology in
Irish Gaelic. I have secondary research interests in linguistic fieldwork and
documentation as well as historical linguistics. I am currently working to
continue my research and complete my PhD. Grammaticalization is of particular
interest since it consists of historical, morphological, and phonological
components of language.





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