Politeness-induced semantic change: The case of quand même

Abstract

This article contributes to a growing body of theory that posits language-external, social factors as a primary motor in diachronic change. Politeness theory and the use of variationist approaches enable us to posit, and test, the hypothesis of a type of pragmaticalization, which I call Politeness-Induced Semantic Change (PISC). Historical data on quand même are presented that give tentative credence to such a model. Moeschler and de Spengler's (1981) and Waltereit's (2001) speechact theoretic analyses of quand même are reinterpreted within the framework of politeness theory and sociopragmatics. The ensuing corpus investigation of the grammaticalization and pragmatico-semantic evolution of quand même from 1500-2000 highlights the fact that not only the innovation but also the propagation of a new form-function configuration depend on social factors; politeness theory may have explanatory power in capturing the ever-changing social patterning of linguistic features and the conditions that favor the spread of innovation. I wish to acknowledge the very helpful and detailed comments of Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen and anonymous reviewers from Language Variation and Change on a draft version of this article. Remaining inadequacies are, of course, entirely my own. I also recognize a debt of gratitude to the Research Committee of the Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences of the University of the West of England, Bristol, who granted me the research leave required to complete the article.

Kiitos and pliis: The relationship of native and borrowed politeness markers in Finnish

“…A key issue relating to our findings has to do with previous research on politeness-induced semantic change (see Beeching 2005Beeching , 2007. For example, Beeching (2005) looks at the historical development of quand même in French, concluding that its rise in frequency with a relational (as opposed to adversative) meaning has to do with "considerations of politeness in everyday interaction" (Beeching 2005: 174), with the underlying motivation for change being considerations for face and social standing.…”

“…For example, Beeching (2005) looks at the historical development of quand même in French, concluding that its rise in frequency with a relational (as opposed to adversative) meaning has to do with "considerations of politeness in everyday interaction" (Beeching 2005: 174), with the underlying motivation for change being considerations for face and social standing. Further, she notes that use of such features can be split into differing identity groups, with such particles as quand même (or, in our case, pliis) serving as markers of identity.…”

Comment les données de corpus pourraient renouveler les manuels de grammaire ?

“…Dans les productions étudiées, cette locution s'interprète essentiellement comme un marqueur « facilitant la mise en acceptabilité d'une contradiction », pour reprendre les termes de Moeschler et Spengler (1981), ou pour « atténuer une proposition qui peut paraître trop forte » (Beeching, 2005). En fait, quand même est rarement en position initiale, mais suit fréquemment un autre introducteur (mais, bon, voilà, etc.…”

“…La locution se rencontre assez régulièrement entre l'auxiliaire et le participe et quelquefois aussi entre le sujet et le verbe : Pour conclure sur cette locution quand même, celle-ci est bien spécifique de l'oral, et comme le signale Beeching (2005Beeching ( , 2007, elle est utilisée par tous les locuteurs, quelle que soit la situation de parole et semble stable (tout autant produite en 1968 qu'aujourd'hui).…”

Awesome insights into semantic variation

“…Indeed, lexical meaning variation has been studied within this framework, especially in the context of corpus research (e.g. Gries 2006, Divjak 2006, Gries and Divjak 2009, Beeching 2005). …”