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6 - Conclusions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2013

Martin Hilpert
Affiliation:
Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Summary

It was the aim of this study to come to terms with the notion of constructional change and to assess whether a constructional perspective on diachronic processes can usefully complement existing approaches to language change. Having discussed the developments of several grammatical constructions at different levels of structural organization, it is now the time to take stock of the empirical observations and to assess how the idea of constructional change can actually lead to a deeper understanding of diachronic linguistic processes. The following sections present arguments in support of this point and outline a few issues to be addressed by future research.

Constructional change and grammaticalization

A result that recurred in each of the three case studies is that many processes of change that constructions undergo fall outside the scope of what is profitably viewed as grammaticalization. In each case, some processes occur that are indeed commonly observed in grammaticalization, but at the same time, there are other processes that would not be expected.

In the development from mine to my, the gradual replacement of a form with an alternative that has less phonetic material and that spreads across more and more different contexts is fully consonant with a scenario of gram-maticalization. What is not as easily explained, however, is why two different forms, mine and thine, undergo developments that are parallel to such an extent that no behavioral differences between them can be statistically established. It is here that a constructional perspective provides helpful analytical tools. If the two forms develop in lock-step, this means that speakers have formed a generalization across both of them: both instantiate the same construction.

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Constructional Change in English
Developments in Allomorphy, Word Formation, and Syntax
, pp. 204 - 212
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

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  • Conclusions
  • Martin Hilpert, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: Constructional Change in English
  • Online publication: 05 May 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139004206.006
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  • Conclusions
  • Martin Hilpert, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: Constructional Change in English
  • Online publication: 05 May 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139004206.006
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusions
  • Martin Hilpert, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: Constructional Change in English
  • Online publication: 05 May 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139004206.006
Available formats
×