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What drives grammaticalization? From attentional asymmetries to grammar| title | What drives grammaticalization? From attentional asymmetries to grammar |
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| start_date | 2026/03/17 |
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| schedule | 10h30-12h |
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| online | no |
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| location_info | salle 512 bis ou 510 & en ligne |
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| summary | Grammar is central to linguistic communication, but why exactly do we have it? What drives the process of grammaticalization through which new grammatical structures are formed? For instance, why do some languages have both lexical numerals like two, and grammatical number markers such as duals — and what drives the grammaticalization through which the latter kind of structures are derived from the former, as in Mandarin Chinese liang ‘two’> lia ‘DUAL’ (Kuteva et al. 2019)?
In this talk, I will discuss these issues from the point of view of a usage-based theory according to which grammatical structures are the result of conventionalization of attentional asymmetries in language usage (e.g. Boye & Harder 2012; Boye 2023).
I first outline this usage-based theory and give examples of psycho- and neurolinguistic studies that support it (e.g. Boye et al. 2023). I then discuss the implications the theory has for grammaticalization, including implications for the diagnosis of grammaticalization. Based on this discussion, I turn to the questions raised in the title and the beginning of this abstract. I argue that while grammar helps us coordinate attention to parts of complex messages,
1) this function is not unique to language,
2) there are fine functional alternatives to grammar,
3) grammaticalization is thus not driven by the need to fill a functional gap: rather, grammar develops naturally through conventionalization processes influenced by a variety of predictable factors. |
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| responsibles | François |
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Workflow history| from state (1) | to state | comment | date |
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| submitted | published | | 2026/02/20 15:19 UTC |
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