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It is common knowledge that language is constantly changing, but in what ways exactly? Are there particular pathways of change that are "preferred"? How did grammatical items such as the going to-future evolve from go meaning 'movement' and how do new items enter the English lexicon? What is happening when a proper name like Jesus develops into the interjection gee!? In this seminar we will have a closer look at different processes (or paths) of language change, such as grammaticalisation, lexicalisation and pragmaticalisation. |
