English adjectives of comparison: lexical and grammaticalized uses
by Breban, Tine
The book is concerned with a hitherto underresearched grammaticalization process: the development from quality-attributing adjective to determiner in the English noun phrase. It takes a bottom-up approach, based on extensive synchronic and diachronic corpus studies of six English adjectives of comparison: other, different, same, identical, similar and comparable. Their functional diversity in current English is proposed to constitute a case of layering, representing the original descriptive use…
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- Full title :English adjectives of comparison : lexical and grammaticalized uses / by Tine Breban.
Summary
The book is concerned with a hitherto underresearched grammaticalization process: the development from quality-attributing adjective to determiner in the English noun phrase. It takes a bottom-up approach, based on extensive synchronic and diachronic corpus studies of six English adjectives of comparison: other, different, same, identical, similar and comparable. Their functional diversity in current English is proposed to constitute a case of layering, representing the original descriptive use, which expresses how like/unlike each other entities are, and a range of grammaticalized referential uses, which contribute to the identification and/or quantification of the entities denoted by the NP. Diachronic and comparative data material is invoked to verify and further develop the grammaticalization hypothesis. The development of adjectives of comparison involves several key concepts identified in the literature. Crucially, it is described as a case of textual intersubjectification driven by the optimalization of recipient-design. The actual grammaticalization paths are diverse and are characterized by lexical as well as structural persistence, i.e. the same lexical meaning develops into different grammatical functions in different syntagmatic configurations. In order to define the NP as a locus of diachronic change, this study offers a new angle on the description of adjectives and the modelling of NP structure. It advocates the abandonment of the traditional class-based model in favour of a radically functional one, in which functions are defined in terms of prototypicality so as to allow for gradience between and within them. The described grammaticalization processes involve developments from prototypical lexical to grammatical reference-related use within the adjectival category, which can be the.
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- Publication Date:2010.
Publication Statements
- Publisher(s):De Gruyter Mouton
- Place of Publication:Berlin
- Language:eng
- Publication Date:2010.
The Physical Object
- Description:1 online resource (xii, 395 pages) : : illustrations
Edition Identifiers
- ISBN:3110205807, 9783110205800, 9783110216011, 3110216019
- DOI:10.1515/9783110216011
- oclc:ocn680619891
- LC Classification:PE1241
- Dewey Decimal:425
Table of Contents
Theoretical argumentation for the grammaticalization and subjectification hypothesis of English adjectives of comparison in the English NP: Constructing a dynamic functional combinatory model of the English NP -- Grammaticalization and subjectification in the english NP -- English adjectives of general comparison -- The grammaticalization hypothesis -- The role of subjectivity and subjectification in the grammaticalization of prenominal adjectives of comparison -- Synchronic corpus study: Adjectives of difference -- Adjectives of identity -- Adjectives of similarity -- Adjectives of comparison in postnominal position -- Diachronic corpus studies: diachronic corpus study of six adjectives of comparison -- Diachronic corpus study of six adjectives of difference.
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