Re(de)fining grammaticalization from a usage-based perspective Discursive ambiguity in innovation scenarios

Abstract

AbstractThe article explores the possibilities of re(de)fining grammaticalization from a usage-based perspective. Since definitions of grammaticalization remain controversial and current approaches differ in various important respects, some terminological clarification seems necessary. I will show that in spite of their close relation to usage-based approaches to language and language change, current approaches to grammaticalization and related phenomena do not consistently follow a usagebased perspective when defining the basic theoretical concepts and analyzing individual changes. I argue that a usage-based approach may propose new answers to controversial issues in grammaticalization research and suggest new pathways of analysis, focusing on the micro-steps of evolution. Finally, I present a case study of the French indefinite pronoun on which shows that innovations may occur and be diffused in distinct pragmatic settings. The notion of discursive ambiguity provides a detailed description of these potential innovation scenarios. In this sense, the study illustrates the potential of fine-grained analyses of the micro-events within grammaticalization from a usage-based perspective.