On the grammaticalization of Finnish colorative construction

Abstract

AbstractThis paper concentrates on the diachronic development of the so-called Colorative Construction (CoC) in Finnish, a two-verb expression consisting of an A-infinitive and an ideophonically based descriptive (or ‘colorative’) finite verb, e.g.susijuos-ta jolkottele-e[wolf run-inf col-prs.3sg] ‘wolf runs trotting’. The paper combines variationist dialectal data, grammaticalization theory, and Construction Grammar formalization. The detailed diachronic description demonstrates that the development from proto-CoC to modern CoC is the epitome of constructionalization, i.e., a gradual process of grammatical changes whereby both the form and the function of an existing construction are altered, creating a new expression type. Major changes in the Balto-Finnic case system were the primary force behind this process. Constructionalization of the CoC itself included the first syntagmatic changes through reanalysis. This gradually created a new paradigmatic expression type, followed by paradigmatic extension through analogy, which widened the frame semantics of the newly coined type.