Polygrammaticalization: the morpheme ko in the Miluo Xiang dialect

Abstract The present paper presents a descriptive and analytical account of the various functions of the morpheme ko in Miluo, a Xiang variety of Chinese. This morpheme is used as a classifier, genitive, possessive, pronominal, relative clause marker, nominalizer and as a sentence-final stance-marking marker. We also illustrate the use of ko as a demonstrative pronoun and prenominal topic marker. We discuss these functions in the light of the diachronic development of nominalizers and topic markers. Our findings provide support for proposals concerning the pathways of grammaticalization that have either been conjectured or attested in various languages, specifically the relation between adnominal markers and nominalization and the relation between demonstratives and topic markers.