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Specialization (linguistics)
In linguistics, the term ''specialization'' (as defined by Paul Hopper), refers to one of the five principles by which grammaticalization can be detected while it is taking place. The other four principles are: layering, divergence, persistence, and de-categorialization. Specialization refers to the narrowing of choices that characterizes an emergent grammatical construction. The lexical Lexical may refer to: Linguistics * Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language * Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification * Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge * Lex ... meaning of a grammaticalizing feature decreases in scope, so that in time the feature conveys a generalized grammatical meaning. "Within a functional domain, at one stage a variety of forms with different semantic nuances may be possible; as grammaticalization takes place, this variety of formal choices narrows and the smaller number of forms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linguistics
Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguistics is concerned with both the Cognition, cognitive and social aspects of language. It is considered a scientific field as well as an academic discipline; it has been classified as a social science, natural science, cognitive science,Thagard, PaulCognitive Science, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). or part of the humanities. Traditional areas of linguistic analysis correspond to phenomena found in human linguistic systems, such as syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences); semantics (meaning); Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words); phonetics (speech sounds and equivalent gestures in sign languages); phonology (the abstract sound system of a particular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Hopper
Paul J. Hopper is an American linguist of British birth. In 1973, he proposed the glottalic theory regarding the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European consonant inventory, in parallel with the Georgian linguist Tamaz Gamkrelidze and the Russian linguist Vyacheslav Ivanov. He later also became known for his theory of emergent grammar (Hopper 1987), for his contributions to the theory of grammaticalisation and other work dealing with the interface between grammar and usage. He currently works as the Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ..., USA. Selected publications *(1973) Glottalized and murmured occlusives in Indo-European. ''Glotta'' 7: 141-166. *(1987) Emergent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammaticalization
In historical linguistics, grammaticalization (also known as grammatization or grammaticization) is a process of language change by which words representing objects and actions (i.e. nouns and verbs) become grammatical markers (such as affixes or prepositions). Thus it creates new function words from content words, rather than deriving them from existing bound, inflectional constructions. For example, the Old English verb 'to want', 'to wish' has become the Modern English auxiliary verb ''will'', which expresses intention or simply futurity. Some concepts are often grammaticalized, while others, such as evidentiality, are not so much. For an understanding of this process, a distinction needs to be made between lexical items or content words, which carry specific lexical meaning, and grammatical items or function words, which serve mainly to express grammatical relationships between the different words in an utterance. Grammaticalization has been defined as "the change whereby ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Layering (linguistics)
Layering in linguistics refers to one of the five principles by which grammaticalisation can be detected while it is taking place. The others are divergence, specialisation, persistence, and de-categorialisation. Layering refers to the phenomenon that a language can have and develop multiple expressions for the same function, that language, in the "lexical" as well as in the " grammatical" domain, tolerates and permanently creates multiple synonymy. "Within a broad functional domain, new layers are continually emerging. As this happens, the older layers are not necessarily discarded, but may remain to coexist with and interact with the newer layers."Hopper Hopper or hoppers may refer to: Places *Hopper, Illinois * Hopper, West Virginia * Hopper, a mountain and valley in the Hunza–Nagar District of Pakistan * Hopper (crater), a crater on Mercury People with the name * Hopper (surname) * Grace H ... 1991: 22 During the process of grammaticalisation, new layers are added ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divergence (linguistics)
Divergence in linguistics refers to one of the five principles by which grammaticalization can be detected while it is taking place. The other four are: layering, specialisation, persistence, and de-categorialisation. Divergence names a state of affairs subsequent to some change, namely the result of the process called “split” by Heine and Reh. “When a lexical form undergoes grammaticalization to a clitic or affix In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. Affixes may be derivational, like English ''-ness'' and ''pre-'', or inflectional, like English plural ''-s'' and past tense ''-ed''. They ..., the original form may remain as an autonomous lexical element and undergo the same changes as ordinary lexical items.” (Hopper 1991: 22) A possible formal distinction between divergence and split would be that the latter seems to be confined to cases where one and the same source has several targets, whereas t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persistence (linguistics)
Persistence in linguistics refers to one of the five principles by which grammaticalisation can be detected while it is taking place. The other four are: layering, divergence, specialisation, and de-categorialisation. "When a form undergoes grammaticalization from a lexical to a grammatical function, as long as it is grammatically viable some traces of its original lexical meanings tend to adhere to it, and details of its lexical history may be reflected in constraints on its grammatical distribution." (Hopper 1991: 22) "The principle of persistence relates the meaning and function of a grammatical form to its history as a lexical morpheme. This relationship is often completely opaque by the stage of morphologisation, but during intermediate stages it may be expected that a form will be polysemous, and that one or more of its meaning will reflect a dominant earlier meaning." (Hopper 1991: 28) In other words, grammaticalisation can be a 'diachronic' explanatory parameter fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De-categorialization
De-categorialization ( or de-categorialisation) in linguistics refers to one of the five principles by which grammaticalization can be detected while it is taking place (according to Paul Hopper). The other four are layering, divergence, specialization, and persistence. De-categorialization can be described as the loss of morphosyntactic In linguistics, morphology () is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. It analyzes the structure of words and parts of words such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Morph ... properties. References * Lessau, Donald A. ''A Dictionary of Grammaticalization''. Bochum: Brockmeyer, 1994. * Hopper, Paul J. “On some principles of grammaticization”. In Elizabeth Closs Traugott and Bernd Heine, eds. Approaches to Grammaticalization, Vol. I. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1991. pp. 17–36. Linguistics {{ling-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammatical Construction
In linguistics, a grammatical construction is any syntactic string of words ranging from sentences over phrasal structures to certain complex lexemes, such as phrasal verbs. Grammatical constructions form the primary unit of study in construction grammar theories. In construction grammar, cognitive grammar, and cognitive linguistics, a grammatical construction is a syntactic template that is paired with conventionalized semantic and pragmatic content. In generative frameworks, constructions are generally treated as epiphenomenal, being derived by the general syntactic rules of the language in question. See also * Construction grammar * Formal grammar In formal language theory, a grammar (when the context is not given, often called a formal grammar for clarity) describes how to form strings from a language's alphabet that are valid according to the language's syntax. A grammar does not describe ... References * Ronald W. Langacker, ''Foundations of Cognitive Grammar Volume I'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lexicon
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or for words'. Linguistic theories generally regard human languages as consisting of two parts: a lexicon, essentially a catalogue of a language's words (its wordstock); and a grammar, a system of rules which allow for the combination of those words into meaningful sentences. The lexicon is also thought to include bound morphemes, which cannot stand alone as words (such as most affixes). In some analyses, compound words and certain classes of idiomatic expressions, collocations and other phrases are also considered to be part of the lexicon. Dictionaries are lists of the lexicon, in alphabetical order, of a given language; usually, however, bound morphemes are not included. Size and organization Items in the lexicon are called lexemes, l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and computer science. History In English, the study of meaning in language has been known by many names that involve the Ancient Greek word (''sema'', "sign, mark, token"). In 1690, a Greek rendering of the term ''semiotics'', the interpretation of signs and symbols, finds an early allusion in John Locke's ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'': The third Branch may be called [''simeiotikí'', "semiotics"], or the Doctrine of Signs, the most usual whereof being words, it is aptly enough termed also , Logick. In 1831, the term is suggested for the third branch of division of knowledge akin to Locke; the "signs of our knowledge". In 1857, the term '' semasiology'' (borrowed from German ''Semasiologie'') is attested in Josiah W. Gibb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |