The Role of Pragmatics in Cyclic Language Change
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Arts Languages and Cultures
Abstract
The proposed network brings together 23 international experts from 11 countries, with a view to investigating cyclic developments in the history of a range of languages from different families. Linguistic cycles are recurrent patterns of language change taking place in a structured manner. They have inherent direction, typically involving the renewal of a particular linguistic item/element of a linguistic construction by an incoming form, but also in some instances changes internal to a given item or construction.
Probably the most widely known example of a cyclic development is the so-called Jespersen Cycle (Jespersen 1917), which has been observed in many different languages at different periods. Here, an item functioning as a marker of standard negation in a given language (e.g. Old French preverbal ne) is first optionally accompanied by an additional marker in certain contexts (e.g. postverbal pas/mie in OF). Eventually, the newer marker becomes obligatory, and the older one starts to drop out, and may disappear completely. The newer marker may then move into the slot that used to be occupied by the older marker in some or all contexts (thus, pas is now preverbal in infinitival clauses). Schematically:
(i) ne Verb > ne V (pas) > ne V pas > (ne) V pas > V pas > pas V
In other cases, the original negative marker merges with the newer one (e.g. Old Latin ne + oenum 'not one' > non). Several cycles may be completed within the same language or across mother-daughter languages, as has happened across Latin and French.
While it has been known since the early 20th c. that cyclic developments can be found at the level of (morpho)syntactic change (i.e. grammar), recent research (Ghezzi/Molinelli eds 2014, Hansen 2018, fc, Hansen ed fc) has revealed that cycles also occur in the domain of semantics and pragmatics (i.e. meaning), at hitherto unsuspected levels of granularity. Thus, for instance, both the by now obsolete Old French adverb/conjunction ainz and the Modern French adverb plutôt have successively undergone change from expressing temporal anteriority ('earlier'/'sooner') to expressing subjective preference ('rather'), and from there to expressing correction (Hansen fc).
Network members will study a number of specific cases of cyclicity from across a wide range of languages, in order to obtain a better understanding of the nature of different types of cycles and their place within a broader theory of language change. In particular, we will investigate how and to what extent cycles belonging to different levels of linguistic description may interrelate. Our working hypothesis is that cycles are pragmatically driven by default. We will develop this line of thought within a usage-based approach to language, which is particularly well suited to accounting for pragmatic influences at the level of both grammar and lexicon.
As cross-linguistic patterns, cyclical forms of change can provide a window on basic building blocks of human cognition and/or interpersonal behavior. What are the cognitive domains from which the source elements are recruited? What is the nature of the forces that keep the cycle moving? By exploring these questions, the proposed network will seek to uncover possible linguistic and/or cognitive (quasi-)universals in the process.
Members will present findings in the context of two small-scale team workshops and one international open-call, refereed conference. In addition, findings will be shared in the form of an edited volume/special issue published in a high-profile outlet. The international open-call conference will serve to raise interest in cyclic language change within the scholarly community and help pave the way for future international collaborations on this topic. We will also set up a website featuring, among other things, an evolving bibliography of relevant research. Finally, we will engage non-academic audiences through a popular-science paper.
Probably the most widely known example of a cyclic development is the so-called Jespersen Cycle (Jespersen 1917), which has been observed in many different languages at different periods. Here, an item functioning as a marker of standard negation in a given language (e.g. Old French preverbal ne) is first optionally accompanied by an additional marker in certain contexts (e.g. postverbal pas/mie in OF). Eventually, the newer marker becomes obligatory, and the older one starts to drop out, and may disappear completely. The newer marker may then move into the slot that used to be occupied by the older marker in some or all contexts (thus, pas is now preverbal in infinitival clauses). Schematically:
(i) ne Verb > ne V (pas) > ne V pas > (ne) V pas > V pas > pas V
In other cases, the original negative marker merges with the newer one (e.g. Old Latin ne + oenum 'not one' > non). Several cycles may be completed within the same language or across mother-daughter languages, as has happened across Latin and French.
While it has been known since the early 20th c. that cyclic developments can be found at the level of (morpho)syntactic change (i.e. grammar), recent research (Ghezzi/Molinelli eds 2014, Hansen 2018, fc, Hansen ed fc) has revealed that cycles also occur in the domain of semantics and pragmatics (i.e. meaning), at hitherto unsuspected levels of granularity. Thus, for instance, both the by now obsolete Old French adverb/conjunction ainz and the Modern French adverb plutôt have successively undergone change from expressing temporal anteriority ('earlier'/'sooner') to expressing subjective preference ('rather'), and from there to expressing correction (Hansen fc).
Network members will study a number of specific cases of cyclicity from across a wide range of languages, in order to obtain a better understanding of the nature of different types of cycles and their place within a broader theory of language change. In particular, we will investigate how and to what extent cycles belonging to different levels of linguistic description may interrelate. Our working hypothesis is that cycles are pragmatically driven by default. We will develop this line of thought within a usage-based approach to language, which is particularly well suited to accounting for pragmatic influences at the level of both grammar and lexicon.
As cross-linguistic patterns, cyclical forms of change can provide a window on basic building blocks of human cognition and/or interpersonal behavior. What are the cognitive domains from which the source elements are recruited? What is the nature of the forces that keep the cycle moving? By exploring these questions, the proposed network will seek to uncover possible linguistic and/or cognitive (quasi-)universals in the process.
Members will present findings in the context of two small-scale team workshops and one international open-call, refereed conference. In addition, findings will be shared in the form of an edited volume/special issue published in a high-profile outlet. The international open-call conference will serve to raise interest in cyclic language change within the scholarly community and help pave the way for future international collaborations on this topic. We will also set up a website featuring, among other things, an evolving bibliography of relevant research. Finally, we will engage non-academic audiences through a popular-science paper.