Reanalysis (Linguistics)

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When re-analysis or meta-analysis in which is Linguistics (usually metonymic ) reinterpretation denotes a linguistic unit. Syntactic (grammatical) reanalyses in particular often take place in several steps: First, the meaning is expanded to include a grammatical component, which then replaces the old meaning over time. The old meaning of the construction can also be retained.

Grammaticalization

In grammaticalization , syntactically free connections are re-analyzed as constructions for expressing grammatical relationships. For example, the demonstrative pronoun das in the sentence I say that: you are reanalysed as an introductory conjunction and thus seen as part of the second sentence: I say that you are coming . Another example is the future tense construction with the verb for going , which is used in both French and English: je vais travailler (I "go" to work) received the futuristic connotation of "I will work", as does "I '" m going to work ".

Lexicalization

Reanalysis also plays a major role in the creation and modification of lexical units ( lexicalization ):

  • Two separate units are re-segmented, for example an ewt became a newt in English .
  • Two separate units are reinterpreted as a single word ( adel-aar> eagle ).
  • Seldom used forms are derived from frequently used forms, for example the singular the bacterium and the bacillus from the plural the bacteria and the bacilli (original singular: the bacterium , the bacillus ).
  • In a folk etymology , a word is wrongly re-analyzed because a derivation seems to make "sense" ( hamaka> hammock ).

literature

  • Bernd Heine , Reh Mechthild: Grammaticalization and Reanalysis in African Languages. Buske, Hamburg 1984, ISBN 3-87118-630-9 .
  • Bernd Heine: Grammaticalization. In: Brian D. Joseph, Richard D. Janda (Eds.) The Handbook of Historical Linguistics. Blackwell, Malden MA et al. 2003, ISBN 0-631-19571-8 , pp. 575-601 ( Blackwell handbooks in linguistics ).
  • Bernd Heine, Tania Kuteva: World Lexicon of Grammaticalization. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2002, ISBN 0-521-80339-X .
  • Bernd Heine, Tania Kuteva: The Genesis of Grammar. A reconstruction. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-922777-8 ( Studies in the evolution of language 9 = Oxford linguistics ).
  • Bernd Heine, Ulrike Claudi, Friederike Hünnemeyer: Grammaticalization. A conceptual framework. University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL et al. 1991, ISBN 0-226-32515-6
  • Jürgen Lang, Ingrid Neumann-Holzschuh: Reanalysis and grammaticalization in the Romance languages. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 3-484-30410-3 .