Reanalysis involving rebracketing and relabeling
A special type
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18148/hs/2021.v5i32-39.147Keywords:
reanalysis, rebracketing, relabeling, ambiguity, grammaticalizationAbstract
Reanalysis is a mechanism that plays an eminent role in (explaining) morphological and syntactic change. In this paper, I consider a special type of reanalysis that consists of two distinct processes – namely, relabeling (category shift) and rebracketing (restructuring) – and investigate its particular features. First, I show that this type of reanalysis is not reducible to other kinds of changes, in contrast to many other cases treated as reanalysis in the literature. Second, I try to demonstrate that structural ambiguity is the necessary trigger for this type, whereas semantic change is, at most, a side effect and mostly absent. Third, I treat the question of whether relabeling and rebracketing occur without each other. Fourth, I argue that reanalysis of this type happens during language acquisition and, fifth, that this kind of reanalysis always involves grammaticalization.Downloads
Published
2021-11-21
Issue
Section
Special Issue: Whither Reanalysis?
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Articles appearing in Journal of Historical Syntax are published under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Authors retain copyright.