Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
Grammaticalisation refers to the process whereby grammatical items or constructions develop. It is typically unidirectional: What’s become grammatical (or more grammatical) doesn’t usually become lexical (or less grammatical). Unidirectionality is a powerful generalisation that allows us to predict or reconstruct the history of an item or construction even in the absence of actual diachronic data. Given how powerful it is, many frameworks of analysis have tried to incorporate it into their theoretical architectures and grammaticalisation studies thus represent one of the most prominent subfields of historical linguistics and syntax.
In this course we will survey key issues in grammaticalisation, starting from directionality and approaches to grammaticalisation to selected topics in grammatical obsolescence and grammaticalisation in Chinese. While generative and so-called morpheme-based approaches will be introduced, the main focus will be on constructional approaches.
能力項目說明
Course Objectives:
(1) To introduce students to basic methodologies and topics in grammaticalisation studies;
(2) To develop observational and analytical skills necessary for research on grammaticalisation;
Learning Outcomes:
(1) Academic skills:
(a) Ability to engage critically with previous studies;
(b) Ability to design own research projects;
(c) Ability to collect and analyse data.
(2) Transferable skills:
(a) Ability to evaluate and process complex information;
(b) Ability to produce complex information in an accessible way.
| 教學週次Course Week | 彈性補充教學週次Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week | 彈性補充教學類別Flexible Supplemental Instruction Type |
|---|---|---|
|
Week |
Topic |
Reading |
|
1 |
Introduction |
Kuteva et al. Ch. 1 |
|
2 |
Directionality |
Norde |
|
3 |
Trousdale & Norde |
|
|
4 |
Approaches |
Croft |
|
5 |
Kasper |
|
|
6 |
Roberts |
|
|
7 |
Obsolescence |
Aldridge |
|
8 |
Kuo |
|
|
9 |
Midterm summary Midterm assignment due on 4/20 |
|
|
10 |
Chinese |
Choose four out of the following papers 1. Kuo W.-J. 2. Kuo Y. H. 3. Li & Wu 4. Liu, & Cuyckens 5. Peng 6. Zhan
|
|
11 |
||
|
12 |
||
|
13 |
||
|
14 |
Holiday |
|
|
15 |
Experimental approaches |
Rosemeyer & Grossman |
|
16 |
Presentations Final paper due on 6/29 (Week 18) |
|
Each student will give a presentation on one of the assigned readings. The midterm assignment may be either (1) a critique of the assigned reading(s) or (2) a project proposal. The final paper should be a project on a diachronic phenomenon. The final presentation should report findings of the project.
10%: Attendance
10%: In-class participation
10%: Presentation on one of the assigned papers
20%: Midterm assignment
20%: Presentation on own project
30%: Final paper on own project
1. Tania Kuteva, Bernd Heine, Bo Hong, Haiping Long, Heiko Narrog, Seongha Rhee.
World lexicon of grammaticalization
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press; 2019
https://nccu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/886NCCU_INST/92ogcr/alma991021658250505721
2. Norde, Muriel.
Lehmann’s parameters revisited, in Davidse, K., Breban, T., Brems, L., and Mortelmans, T. (Eds.) Grammaticalisation and Language Change: New reflections, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 73–110.
(Author’s manuscript) https://murielnorde.com/Norde_NRG4.pdf
3. Trousdale, Graeme & Norde, Muriel
Degrammaticalization and constructionalization: two case studies
Language Sciences, 2013-03, Vol.36 (1), p.32-46
4. Croft, William
The origins of grammaticalization in the verbalization of experience
Linguistics, 2010-01, Vol.48 (1), p.1-48; BERLIN: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
5. Boye, Kasper
Grammaticalization as Conventionalization of Discursively Secondary Status: Deconstructing the Lexical–Grammatical Continuum
Transactions of the Philological Society, 2023-07, Vol.121 (2), p.270-292; London: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
https://nccu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/886NCCU_INST/egq20k/cdi_proquest_journals_2840923133
6. Roberts, Ian
Diachrony and Cartography: Paths of Grammaticalization and the Clausal Hierarchy
Functional Heads, Volume 7, 2012, Vol.7; Oxford University Press
7. Aldridge, Edith
The loss of object focus and wh-movement in Early Middle Chinese
Journal of historical syntax, 2023-09, Vol.7 (6-19), Article 15
8. Kuo, Yueh Hsin
A constructional account of the loss of the adverse avertive schema in Mandarin Chinese’, in Kranich, S., and Breban, T. (Eds.) Lost in Change: Causes and Processes in the Loss of Grammatical Elements and Constructions, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 131–158.
(Author’s manuscript will be provided)
Suggestions for Week 10 – Week 15
Kuo, Wei-Ju
古漢語言說動詞「道」的語法化和詞彙化
Language and linguistics (Taipei), 2022-06, Vol.23 (3), p.451-491
Kuo, Yueh Hsin
Bidirectional grammaticalization: Chinese modal and conditional
Journal of linguistics, 2024-04, Vol.60 (2), p.363-398, Article 0022226723000087; Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Li, Yanzhi & Wu, Yicheng
The constructionalization and constructional change of noncanonical V-NP expressions in Mandarin Chinese
Studies in Language, Volume 42, Number 4, 2018, pp. 886-922(37)
https://nccu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/886NCCU_INST/92ogcr/alma991021157993005721
Liu, Meili & Cuyckens, Hubert
The grammaticalization of impossibility: The emergence of the Mandarin modal auxiliary wufa
Language and linguistics (Taipei), 2023-09, Vol.24 (4), p.733-763; Taipei: John Benjamins Publishing Company
https://nccu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/886NCCU_INST/egq20k/cdi_proquest_journals_3062695504
Peng, Rui
Chinese Descriptive Pivotal Construction: Taxonomy and Prototypicality
Language and linguistics (Taipei), 2016-07, Vol.17 (4), p.529-573; London, England: SAGE Publication
Zhan, Fangqiong
The constructionalization of a set of connectives in Chinese
Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 2017-01, Vol.45 (1), p.104-144; Berkeley: Journal of Chinese Linguistics Publication Office
(Available on the website of the journal) https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/image/data/04_45.1.pdf
15. Rosemeyer, Malte & Grossman, Eitan
Why don’t grammaticalization pathways always recur?
Corpus linguistics and linguistic theory, 2021-11, Vol.17 (3), p.653-681; Berlin: De Gruyter
https://nccu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/886NCCU_INST/egq20k/cdi_proquest_journals_2591631756