Lexicalization and Language Change

Lexicalization A Process Of Language Change Has Been Conceptualized In A Variety Of Ways. Broadly Defined As The Adoption Of Concepts Into The Lexicon It Has Been Viewed By Syntacticians As The Reverse Process Of Grammaticalization By Morphologists As A Routine Process Of Word-Formation And By Semanticists As The Development Of Concrete Meanings. In This Up-To-Date Survey Laurel Brinton And Elizabeth Traugott Examine The Various Conceptualizations Of Lexicalization That Have Been Presented In The Literature. In Light Of Contemporary Work On Grammaticalization They Then Propose A New Unified Model Of Lexicalization And Grammaticalization. Their Approach Is Illustrated With A Variety Of Case Studies From The History Of English Including Present Participles Multi-Word Verbs Adverbs And Discourse Markers As Well As Some Examples From Other Indo-European Languages. The First Review Of The Various Approaches To Lexicalization This Book Will Be Invaluable To Students And Scholars Of Historical Linguistics And Language Change.