Grammaticalisation

Citation

Smith A (2026) Grammaticalisation. In: A New Cambridge History of the English Language. Vol II: Documentation, data sources, and modelling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 744-767. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009205443

Abstract
Grammaticalisation is the gradual historical process through which English, like all languages, generates its grammatical material. It is underpinned by separate yet interconnected mechanisms of language change which result in the continuous formal and functional modification of lexical items in specific constructions and contexts. Its ultimate origin has been identified as metaphorical extension and as context-induced reinterpretation, but fundamentally lies in the approximate and inferential nature of linguistic communication. These processes and motivations are explored here through a number of case studies from the history of English, focusing in particular on the emergence of various tense markers, quantifiers and complex prepositions.

Keywords
grammaticalisation; construction grammar; usage-based; entrenchment; metaphor; reanalysis; tense markers; quantifiers; prepositions; ostensive-inferential communication