UNIDIRECTIONALITY IN GRAMMATICALIZATION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONCESSIVE SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS WITH OB-IN GERMAN

Abstract

From a diachronic point of view grammaticalization is prototypically thought of s being unidirectional and irreversible (cf. Haspelmath 1999; Hopper Traugott 2003: 99-139). Grammaticalization normally involves gradual shifts in specific linguistic contexts, whereby a lexical item gradually turns into a grammatical item or whereby a less grammatical item becomes more grammatical. The direction of prototypical grammaticalization can thus be schematized s a rightward, i.e. unidirectional, expansion, s illustrated in (1):