Contexts for Micro-change: The Case of German Zeitnah, Postwendend and Voll

Anneliese Kuhle

doi:10.13189/lls.2016.040105

Abstract

In the current debate on language change, the focus on micro-changes has become more prominent (13, p. 221). One arguable advantage of focusing on instances of change which involve only a relatively small number of structural and/or functional innovations is that the specific circumstances which instigate such change are easier to reconstruct. Moreover, these may be more closely identifiable with the actual usage events speakers and hearers engage in every day. Specifically, this paper deals with three instances of micro-change in Present-day German: the innovation from nahe to zeit+nahe, the development of postwendend as an emphatic temporal modifier, and the emergence of Austrian German voll in discourse-pragmatic function. Each instance is analyzed from a usage-based perspective though in each case different motivating factors for change come into focus. Most importantly for the argument, these factors are invariably based on the considerations of context, not innate cognitive biases. From the cognitive point of view, these findings are taken in support of the claim that linguistic innovations are based on only general cognitive abilities also characteristic of other intentional behaviors such as the handling and innovation of tools.

Highlights

In his much-noticed discussion of the concept of Emergent Grammar, Hopper[7] sharpened the view that grammar does not merely consist of a set of stabilized constructions which can be generalized more or less freely, but that it contains an equal amount of constant irregularities and deviations from previously established “rules” or conventions
The crucial insight to be gained from this functional conception is that language users themselves are the inventors of novel linguistic constructions whether these consist of structural enrichments, metaphorical extensions or functional reinterpretations of already existent speech variants
This conclusion is relevant for the cognitive perspective on language, because inventions are never built on any preexisting cognitive biases in the acting individual

Summary

Introduction

In his much-noticed discussion of the concept of Emergent Grammar, Hopper[7] sharpened the view that grammar does not merely consist of a set of stabilized constructions which can be generalized more or less freely, but that it contains an equal amount of constant irregularities and deviations from previously established “rules” or conventions. Along these lines, Hopper stresses that every single discourse and instance of language use will not merely contain formulaic repetitions of utterances produced elsewhere in the speech community, but that it will just as much contain individualistic compositions and applications of elements serving the language user’s most individual needs and purposes of behavior. Hopper stresses that every single discourse and instance of language use will not merely contain formulaic repetitions of utterances produced elsewhere in the speech community, but that it will just as much contain individualistic compositions and applications of elements serving the language user’s most individual needs and purposes of behavior In this functionalist notion of the language system, language users are the real tool-makers of linguistic constructions – constructions defined here in a fairly broad sense, subsuming sentential or clausal compositions, elliptical contractions or the composition of complex words.

Expressive Clarity and Empathetic Cognition

World Knowledge and Metaphorical Extension

Linguistic Scaffolding and Pragmatic Inferencing

Conclusions