Rescuing grammaticalization from construction hegemony
The evolution of the modal better
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21463261 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Carmelo Alessandro Basile (0000-0002-6004-203X, PRISMES/SeSyLiA , Sorbonne Nouvelle University , Paris , France), Debra Ziegeler (0000-0003-3853-9370, PRISMES/SeSyLiA , Sorbonne Nouvelle University , Paris , France) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-08 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Folia Linguistica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0165-4004 • E-ISSN: 1614-7308 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/flin-2025-2029 |
| OpenAlex | W7109234136 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 49 |
The present paper examines the relationship between grammaticalization and constructionalization in the context of recent studies on Diachronic Construction Grammar. Building on the concept of “Event Schemas” in language change, it explores the diachronic evolution of the English modal construction BETTER (in the forms had better , ’d better, and plain better + v ) since Old English times. The proposed study demonstrates that although this could be regarded as a typical case of ordinary grammatical constructionalization it is better explained as grammaticalization through Event Schemas, where the conceptual source elements of possession and evaluation remain evident throughout the construction’s entire diachronic journey. In this way, the possessive Event Schema known as the “Goal Schema”, likely grammaticalized into an “Action Schema” (explaining the introduction of the copula have found in present-day English), with the meanings of evaluation associated with the predicate adjective, better, co-existing as an Evaluative Schema. Thus, grammaticalization is manifested in the observed continuity of both possessive and evaluative semantic coordinates in the evolution of had better , which would not be permitted under typical constructionalization accounts that require parallel changes in both form and meaning
Germanic languages · Grammaticalization · Historical linguistics · Modal · Possessive · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Constructionalization and Constructional Changes
Emerging English Modals
Modals and Quasi-modals in English
Possession
Auxiliaries
Grammaticalization
Lexicalisation and grammaticalization
Constructions
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language
Do semantic modal maps have a role in a constructionalization approach to modals
From grammaticalization to Diachronic Construction Grammar
Comparative modals
Diachronic construction grammar and grammaticalization theory
Irrealis and the Subjunctive
Constructional change vs. grammaticalization
Grammaticalization Chains
Reanalysis in the history of do
Modal better
On Understanding Grammar
Modality's semantic map
Radical Construction Grammar
Thoughts on grammaticalization
The Form and Meaning of the English Auxiliary
Syntax
| Highly cited | No |
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