Context, Intent and Variation in Grammaticalization

How is grammaticalization theory to accommodate the external factors that drive change and the competition that inevitably comes with change? This volume collects a wide range of papers at this intersection between grammaticalization theory and variationist linguistics. Grammaticalization and grammatical innovation, even if inevitably subject to formal change, are primarily driven by functional and communicative pressures. These include extravagant abuse of a construction for effect, but just as well reduction of its semantics to enhance its scope. Variation is shown to feed into this process through various means, including social embedding, functional competition (between variant constructions or between functions within a construction), stylistic specialization, contact-induced grammaticalization, but also analogical support of variant syntactic patterns. Attention is also paid to the methodological integration of variationist thinking and grammaticalization theory, including the issue of relative weight of language-internal and language-external variables, and how to measure their interaction. This study of grammaticalization through the lens of variation is of interest to all linguists studying language variation and change.

Hendrik De Smet, Leuven; Peter Petré, Antwerp; Liesbet Heyvaert, Leuven; Benedikt Szmrecsanyi, Leuven, all Belgium.