Replica grammaticalisation as recapitulation

Abstract

The study of replica grammaticalisation in contact (Heine & Kuteva 2003, 2005) has not been without its critics (e.g. Matthews & Yip 2009, Gast & van der Auwera 2012) because of assumptions of a historical linguistic awareness of model language grammaticalisation routes. In Heine & Kuteva’s studies, the contact model language was usually understood to be a substrate or L1. The present study investigates a universal feature of New English dialects and proposes instead a replication of earlier diachronic stages in the lexifier attested up to 1000 years ago. Replication is assisted by the identification and exploitation of extant, lexical source meanings or earlier grammaticalisation stages co-existing with the grammaticalised item in the lexifier, in a situation of contact layering.