Converging variations and the emergence of horizontal links : To-contraction in American English
Lorenz, David LU
(2020)
In Constructional Approaches to Language
27.
p.243-274
- Abstract
- The guiding question of this paper is how (horizontal) connections are established when new items enter the network of constructions. It presents a quantitative, corpus-based study of the development of to-contraction (e.g. want to > wanna) in American English since the 19th century. From a plethora of earlier forms, gonna, wanna and gotta emerge, first as representations of phonetic reduction, but in time claiming their place as newly emerged, separate nodes in the constructional network. As their frequency increases, their usage patterns (relative to the full form) become increasingly similar. I propose that this marks the emergence of a horizontal link, which can be described as an emerging “metaconstruction”. The study discusses the... (More)
- The guiding question of this paper is how (horizontal) connections are established when new items enter the network of constructions. It presents a quantitative, corpus-based study of the development of to-contraction (e.g. want to > wanna) in American English since the 19th century. From a plethora of earlier forms, gonna, wanna and gotta emerge, first as representations of phonetic reduction, but in time claiming their place as newly emerged, separate nodes in the constructional network. As their frequency increases, their usage patterns (relative to the full form) become increasingly similar. I propose that this marks the emergence of a horizontal link, which can be described as an emerging “metaconstruction”. The study discusses the status of these forms as either phonetic variants, potential allostructions, or independent form–meaning pairings, and provides first-hand evidence for emergent connections via mechanisms of analogy in language. Moreover, it makes an argument that (changing) usage patterns reflect (changing) constructional links and degrees of entrenchment. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/eb114f70-3e9f-4d52-8aa5-f976016c6bd8
- author
- Lorenz, David
LU
- publishing date
- 2020-05-13
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- modal expressions, horizontal links, analogy, metaconstruction, contraction
- host publication
- Nodes and Networks in Diachronic Construction Grammar
- series title
- Constructional Approaches to Language
- editor
- Sommerer, Lotte and Smirnova, Elena
- volume
- 27
- article number
- 8
- pages
- 32 pages
- publisher
- John Benjamins Publishing Company
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85086676168
- ISSN
- 1573-594X
- ISBN
- 9789027261298
- 9789027205445
- DOI
- 10.1075/cal.27.07lor
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- eb114f70-3e9f-4d52-8aa5-f976016c6bd8
- date added to LUP
- 2023-11-06 20:12:53
- date last changed
- 2024-06-15 11:38:24
@inbook{eb114f70-3e9f-4d52-8aa5-f976016c6bd8,
abstract = {{The guiding question of this paper is how (horizontal) connections are established when new items enter the network of constructions. It presents a quantitative, corpus-based study of the development of to-contraction (e.g. want to > wanna) in American English since the 19th century. From a plethora of earlier forms, gonna, wanna and gotta emerge, first as representations of phonetic reduction, but in time claiming their place as newly emerged, separate nodes in the constructional network. As their frequency increases, their usage patterns (relative to the full form) become increasingly similar. I propose that this marks the emergence of a horizontal link, which can be described as an emerging “metaconstruction”. The study discusses the status of these forms as either phonetic variants, potential allostructions, or independent form–meaning pairings, and provides first-hand evidence for emergent connections via mechanisms of analogy in language. Moreover, it makes an argument that (changing) usage patterns reflect (changing) constructional links and degrees of entrenchment.}},
author = {{Lorenz, David}},
booktitle = {{Nodes and Networks in Diachronic Construction Grammar}},
editor = {{Sommerer, Lotte and Smirnova, Elena}},
isbn = {{9789027261298}},
issn = {{1573-594X}},
keywords = {{modal expressions; horizontal links; analogy; metaconstruction; contraction}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{05}},
pages = {{243--274}},
publisher = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}},
series = {{Constructional Approaches to Language}},
title = {{Converging variations and the emergence of horizontal links : To-contraction in American English}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/cal.27.07lor}},
doi = {{10.1075/cal.27.07lor}},
volume = {{27}},
year = {{2020}},
}