33.2869, Review: Linguistic Theories: Narrog, Heine (2021)

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Subject: 33.2869, Review: Linguistic Theories: Narrog, Heine (2021)

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Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2022 17:13:59
From: Natalie Operstein [natacha at ucla.edu]
Subject: The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36823517


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/32/32-2703.html

EDITOR: Heiko  Narrog
EDITOR: Bernd  Heine
TITLE: The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization
SERIES TITLE: Oxford Handbooks
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press
YEAR: 2021

REVIEWER: Natalie Operstein,  

SUMMARY

This is a paperback edition of ''The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization'',
edited by Heiko Narrog and Bernd Heine. The changes to the hardcover (2011)
edition include corrections, an added preface, and selected bibliographic
updates.  

The handbook contains sixty-five chapters and a common bibliography. The first
chapter is a thorough introduction by Heiko Narrog and Bernd Heine in which
the history of research into grammaticalization is surveyed with an eye on the
field's conceptual diversity. The bulk of the volume is divided into five
sections: Grammaticalization and Linguistic Theory (Chapters 2-16),
Methodological Issues (Chapters 17-25), Domains of Grammaticalization
(Chapters 26-38), Grammaticalization of Form Classes and Categories (Chapters
39-55), and The Different Faces of Grammaticalization across Languages
(Chapters 56-65). 

The chapters in Part I address themselves to open theoretical issues in the
study of grammaticalization and the treatment of grammaticalization phenomena
in different frameworks. Elizabeth Closs Traugott (Ch. 2) discusses the place
of grammaticalization among the mechanisms of language change, particularly in
relation to analogy and reanalysis. Olga Fischer's contribution (Ch. 3)
elaborates further on the role of analogy, drawing a distinction between
reanalysis as a linguist's concept and analogical reasoning as a cognitive
property of language users. Elly van Gelderen's chapter (Ch. 4) chronicles the
''difficult liaison'' of grammaticalization theory and generative grammar. The
central importance of grammaticalization in a usage-based theory of grammar is
emphasized in Peter Harder and Kasper Boye's (Ch. 5) and Joan L. Bybee's (Ch.
6) contributions. Ronald W. Langacker (Ch. 7) introduces, via case studies, a
cognitive grammar view of grammaticalization. Nikolas Gisborne and Amanda
Patten's survey of the intersection between grammaticalization phenomena and
constructional change (Ch. 8) is guided by the question of whether the
constructions themselves undergo grammaticalization or merely provide the
context for the grammaticalizing elements. The importance of constructional
slots for the types of phenomena covered by grammaticalization takes center
stage in Walter Bisang's contribution (Ch. 9), which introduces the specifics
of grammaticalization phenomena in East and mainland Southeast Asian
languages. Terttu Nevalainen and Minna Palander-Collin (Ch. 10) address the
diffusion of grammaticalization processes across communities of speakers.
Holger Diessel's chapter (Ch. 11) highlights the existence of semantic and
pragmatic -- but not morphosyntactic or phonological -- parallels between the
development of grammatical markers in child language and in diachrony. Andrew
D. M. Smith (Ch. 12) and Östen Dahl (Ch. 13) discuss the contributions of
grammaticalization theory to evolutionary linguistics and linguistic
complexity studies, respectively. Kersti Börjars and Nigel Vincent (Ch. 14)
survey proposed explanations for the unidirectionality of grammaticalization.
Marianne Mithun (Ch. 15) relies on the explanatory power of grammaticalization
to peel away layers of structure in the Navajo verb. In the closing chapter
(Ch. 16), Brian D. Joseph offers an overall critique of grammaticalization
theory, ranging from its terminology to some of its basic tenets. 

The chapters in Part II take up some of the methodological issues in
grammaticalization research. Shana Poplack (Ch. 17) illustrates how the
progress of grammaticalization can be studied with the tools of variationist
sociolinguistics, with the grammaticalizing form treated as one of the
variants competing with others in the same functional space. Rena Torres
Cacoullos and James A. Walker (Ch. 18) discuss ways of gauging the degree of
grammaticalization of conventionalized word sequences (collocations). The
focus of Christian Mair’s chapter (Ch. 19) is on mutually beneficial
cooperation between grammaticalization theory and corpus linguistics, the
former helping the latter to frame meaningful research questions, the latter
supplying the former with key empirical data. Helena Raumolin-Brunberg and
Arja Nurmi (Ch. 20) note variation in the extent individuals participate in
ongoing changes and argue that the diffusion of changes resulting from
grammaticalization does not differ from that of other linguistic changes.
Bernd Kortmann and Agnes Schneider (Ch. 21) report on the differences in the
characteristic grammaticalization patterns of low-contact and high-contact
non-standard varieties of English. Contact-induced grammaticalization is
further addressed from the perspective of different language contact scenarios
by Yaron Matras (Ch. 22) and from that of areality by Bernd Heine and Tania
Kuteva (Ch. 23). Béatrice Lamiroy and Walter De Mulder (Ch. 24) illustrate
intra-language-family differences in the pace of grammaticalization, with
examples drawn from Italian, Spanish, and French. The closing chapter, by
Heiko Narrog and Johan van der Auwera (Ch. 25), zooms in on the use of
semantic maps for grammaticalization research. 

In Part III, grammaticalization phenomena are considered from the vantage
point of different structural levels. Anne Wichmann (Ch. 26) argues that the
segmental phonological changes that accompany grammaticalization are secondary
to changes in prosody. Martin Haspelmath (Ch. 27) considers coalescence of
function words with content words under grammaticalization, as well as the
kinds of elements that coalesce. Ilse Wischer's discussion of the relationship
between grammaticalization and word formation (Ch. 28) centers on derivational
affixation and phrasal compounds. Scott DeLancey's chapter (Ch. 29) emphasizes
the centrality of grammaticalization processes in the origin of grammatical
categories, and of syntax in general. Chaofen Sun and Elizabeth Closs Traugott
(Ch. 30) discuss interactions between grammaticalization and changes in word
order. Regine Eckardt (Ch. 31) illustrates semantic reanalysis in
grammaticalization, with examples drawn from Germanic and Romance. The role of
pragmatic inferencing and context are discussed by Steve Nicolle (Ch. 32), and
that of discourse strategies by Richard Waltereit (Ch. 33). Elizabeth
Couper-Kuhlen (Ch. 34) considers the origin of selected bipartite
constructions in interactional conversational routines. The emphasis of
Douglas Lightfoot's chapter (Ch. 35) is on the difficulty of drawing a sharp
conceptual divide between grammaticalization and lexicalization. Gabriele
Diewald (Ch. 36) argues that pragmaticalization -- the development of
pragmatic (discourse) markers -- forms an integral part of grammaticalization.
John Haiman's contribution (Ch. 37) is devoted to the reduction of semantic
transparency under grammaticalization, caused by formal erosion. In the
closing chapter (Ch. 38), Muriel Norde considers degrammaticalization, divided
into three formal types: degrammation (grammatical word > lexical word),
deinflectionalization (inflectional affix > less bound morpheme type), and
debonding (bound morpheme > free morpheme).  

Part IV assembles chapters that summarize research on grammaticalization
sources and paths. Elly van Gelderen (Ch. 39) discusses the pronominal origin
of agreement markers. Paolo Ramat (Ch. 40) surveys the diachronic sources of
adverbs, such as case-marked forms and phrasal constructions, and Christa
König (Ch. 41) those of adpositions and case markers. Walter De Mulder and
Anne Carlier (Ch. 42) detail the development of definite articles out of
demonstratives. Björn Wiemer (Ch. 43) discusses the sources and
grammaticalization paths of passives, and Manfred Krug (Ch. 44) those of
auxiliaries. The subject of Laurel J. Brinton's contribution (Ch. 45) is the
status of English complex predicates -- such as ‘make use’ or ‘have a drink’
-- between grammaticalization and lexicalization. Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen
(Ch. 46) offers an extended discussion of Jespersen's Cycle, and a briefer one
of Croft's Cycle (Croft 1991), from the perspective of grammaticalization
theory. Kees Hengeveld (Ch. 47) discusses diachronic development of tense and
aspect markers. Debra Ziegeler (Ch. 48) surveys literature on
grammaticalization phenomena in the area of modality. Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald
(Ch. 49) introduces typical developmental pathways of evidentials. Noriko O.
Onodera (Ch. 50) surveys the different theoretical perspectives on the
diachronic development of discourse markers. Zygmunt Frajzyngier (Ch. 51), who
defines grammaticalization as ''the coding of a function within the
grammatical system of the language'' (p. 625), overviews grammaticalization
phenomena in the domain of reference, including deixis, gender, and
definiteness. Toshio Ohori (Ch. 52) surveys the diachronic sources of clause
connectors for different types of subordinate clauses, Guy Deutscher (Ch. 53)
of quotative markers, Anna Giacalone Ramat and Caterina Mauri (Ch. 54) of
coordinating clause connectors, and Sandra A. Thompson and Ryoko Suzuki (Ch.
55) of final particles. The chapters vary in their approach to their topics,
with some giving greater weight to literature review and others to
illustrative case studies.  

Part V contains a selection of grammaticalization profiles. Roland Pfau and
Markus Steinbach (Ch. 56) overview grammaticalization phenomena in sign
languages, dividing the discussion into modality-specific processes and
modality-independent ones, and stressing internal reconstruction as the method
for recovering these developments. Bernd Heine (Ch. 57) surveys a selection of
recurrent grammaticalization processes in languages of Africa. Martin Hilpert
(Ch. 58) overviews grammaticalization phenomena in Germanic languages,
emphasizing the role of language contact in understanding these patterns. Adam
Ledgeway's chapter on grammaticalization from Latin to Romance (Ch. 59)
centers on the development of determiners and auxiliaries. Mário Eduardo T.
Martelotta and Maria Maura Cezario (Ch. 60) describe salient
grammaticalization phenomena in Brazilian Portuguese, focusing on personal
pronouns, auxiliaries, and clause connectors. Björn Wiemer (Ch. 61) and Lars
Johanson (Ch. 62) present the grammaticalization paths characteristic of
Slavic and Turkic languages, respectively. Seongha Rhee (Ch. 63), Heiko Narrog
and Toshio Ohori (Ch. 64), and Hilary Chappell and Alain Peyraube (Ch. 65)
present grammaticalization processes attested, respectively, in Korean,
Japanese, and Sinitic languages. The individual chapters differ in their focus
and depth of coverage, depending on such factors as the availability of older
sources and the amount of prior research into grammaticalization phenomena in
the respective languages.  

EVALUATION 

As noted by the reviewers of the hardcover edition (Nørgård-Sørensen 2013,
Breban 2014), the handbook provides a well-rounded introduction to
grammaticalization research. In spite of the robust tide of publications
during the time that has elapsed between the two editions, the volume
continues to hold its own as a valuable introduction to this area of study.  

Perhaps the greatest strength of the volume is the variety of perspectives it
assembles within its covers. The variety begins with the definitions of
grammaticalization: for instance, at one extreme we find it defined as ''the
diachronic change which gives rise to linguistic expressions which are coded
as discursively secondary'' (Harder and Boye, p. 63) and at another as ''the
coding of a function within the grammatical system of the language''
(Frajzyngier, p. 625). The most frequently cited definition is, nevertheless,
the one proposed in Hopper and Traugott (2003: xv): ''the change whereby
lexical items and constructions come in certain linguistic contexts to serve
grammatical functions and, once grammaticalized, continue to develop new
grammatical functions'' (e.g., Nicolle, p. 402 fn. 1). The areas explored by
the different chapters start out from the particular definitions of
grammaticalization adopted by their authors. The definitions naturally extend
to the authors' approach to their topics and selection of material, resulting
in conceptual diversity of the coverage. 

Another strength of the volume is that the chapters often transcend their
allotted bounds by including stimulating discussion of more general issues in
grammaticalization theory, language change, and/or linguistics. Among many
others, the issues so addressed include the need to define the notion of
grammar in advance of linguistic theorizing (Harder and Boye, p. 60; Diewald,
p. 453), grammar as an evolutionary property of human language, the relation
between grammar and usage, the role of the individual in grammaticalization,
the connection between grammaticalization and complexification (Harder and
Boye, pp. 58-66), unidirectionality in grammaticalization (Bybee, pp. 77ff),
linguistic cycles (van Gelderen, pp. 492ff), the need to view lexicon and
grammar as a continuum rather than dichotomy (Langacker, p. 79), whether the
proper unit of study in grammaticalization is the grammaticalizing element or
the surrounding construction (Gisborne and Patten, pp. 92-93; Lightfoot, p.
443; Krug, p. 557; Brinton, p. 568; Deutscher, p. 650), the role of context in
triggering grammaticalization (Giacalone Ramat and Mauri, p. 665), areal
aspects of grammaticalization, including whether the loss of phonetic
substance is a universal property of grammaticalization (Bisang, pp. 114-116),
the abrupt nature of innovations in individuals versus the gradual nature of
their propagation through language communities (Matras, p. 288), the behavior
of individuals under ongoing change (Raumolin-Brunberg and Nurmi pp. 252,
256), whether existing sociolinguistic methodologies can be profitably applied
to study the diffusion of changes resulting from grammaticalization
(Nevalainen and Palander-Collin, p. 129; Raumolin-Brunberg and Nurmi, p. 262),
the locus of language change (Borjars and Vincent, p. 174), and whether the
development of discourse markers out of other parts of speech constitutes
grammaticalization (Wichmann, p. 339). 

Methodological issues also receive due attention. A salient issue is the need
to rely on different kinds of data for recovering grammaticalization processes
in different types of languages: e.g., mainly internal reconstruction in the
case of sign languages (Pfau and Steinbach, p. 684) versus the comparative
largesse of historical texts, linguistic corpora and cross-family comparisons
in Germanic (Hilpert, pp. 709-710). A number of chapters provide valuable
bibliographical orientation on their topics: e.g., on corpus-based work on
grammaticalization (Mair, pp. 239-240), lexicalization (Lightfoot pp.
439-443), grammaticalization studies on Korean (Rhee, pp. 765-766). 

While the coverage of grammaticalization in the handbook is very nearly
comprehensive, some aspects of the theory are underexplored or overlooked. For
example, the reader will look in vain for a discussion of grammaticalization
of word orders in the chapter entitled ''Grammaticalization and Word Order
Change'' (Ch. 30). The authors explain that they do not consider word order
change an instance of grammaticalization; the chapter instead explores
interdependence between grammaticalization and word order change. Still, some
discussion of this issue is to be found in the section ''Grammaticalized word
orders'' of Chapter 59, which overviews grammaticalization phenomena from
Latin to Romance. Similarly, while there is a whole chapter devoted to
parallels between the development of grammatical markers in grammaticalization
and in first language acquisition, there is no matching chapter on
grammaticalization phenomena in second language acquisition, including
fossilized varieties (cf. Giacalone Ramat 1992; Moretti 2000). In terms of
cross-linguistic variety, English is the best represented language, with both
dedicated chapters and those that rely on English examples to illustrate
concepts. This relative lack of variety is alleviated by the
grammaticalization profiles in Part V; the collection in Narrog and Heine
(2018) serves as an extension of this endeavor.     

In a few instances I was unable to locate the works referenced in the chapters
in the common bibliographical section. These include, e.g., Diessel (1999)
(referenced on page 628), Wiemer (2020) (referenced on page 741), and von
Waldenfels (2012) (referenced on page 752). 

While reading this handbook from cover to cover is a pleasure, it is likely
that most readers will consult it piecemeal, in the manner of a dictionary or
encyclopedia. The length of the chapters lends itself well to such use, by
delivering, within the modest space of about 10 to 12 pages (very rarely
longer), brief yet authoritative overviews of specific research subareas in
this vibrant and promising field. 

REFERENCES

Breban, Tine. 2014. Review of Narrog and Heine (2011) The Oxford Handbook of
Grammaticalization. Journal of Historical Pragmatics 15: 153-158.
Croft, William. 1991. The evolution of negation. Journal of Linguistics 27:
1-27. 

Giacalone Ramat, Anna. 1992. Grammaticalization processes in the area of
temporal and modal relations. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 14:
297-322. 

Hopper, Paul J. and Elizabeth Closs Traugott. 2003. Grammaticalization. 2nd
ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Moretti, Bruno. 2000. Le varietà di apprendimento e il potenziale delle
lingue: l’esempio della marcatura dell’oggetto tra accusativo preposizionale e
partitivo. Romanische
Forschungen 112: 453-469. 

Narrog, Heiko and Bernd Heine (eds). 2018. Grammaticalization from a
Typological Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Nørgård-Sørensen, Jens. 2013. Review of Narrog and Heine (2011) The Oxford
Handbook of Grammaticalization. Studies in Language 37: 217-225.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Natalie Operstein's research interests center on language change, phonology
and language contact. Her publications include ''The Lingua Franca:
Contact-Induced Language Change in the Mediterranean'' (2022), ''Zaniza
Zapotec'' (2015), ''Consonant Structure and Prevocalization'' (2010),
''Valence Changes in Zapotec'', ed. with A.H. Sonnenschein (2015) and
''Language Contact and Change in Mesoamerica and Beyond'', ed. with K. Dakin
and C. Parodi (2017).





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