When Planning Means No Plan: Bidirectional Subjectification in Peninsular Spanish en plan– From Adverbial Phrase to Discourse Marker Functions

Abstract

Abstract Subjectification is a dynamic category in linguistic change as it triggers both grammaticalization and pragmaticalization. In this line, this study traces the evolution of Spanish en plan ‘in plan’ from its origin in the 13th century to the present. I argue that en plan has undergone a bidirectional process of subjectification. Its internal structure has become more fixed, moving from concrete meanings (una clase de literatura, cuyas producciones se semejan en plan, estilo … ‘a kind of literature, whose productions are similar in plan, style …’), to perform approximate adverbial functions (Sus actuaciones (…) son en plan restringido ‘their performances are like restricted’). Moreover, it developed discourse marker functions (le soltó en plan: “oye no es por nada” ‘she said “hey, just saying”’). This implies that the structure has undergone a bidirectional change, first towards the grammar, through grammaticalization, and away from the grammar and towards discourse through a process of discursivization.