Subjectification

Subjectification is a diachronic process whereby an element or a construction develops new senses that require speaker-reference, i.e. that lead to subjectivity (e.g. Langacker 1990, Traugott 1995).

Example

The development of epistemic senses of modal verbs such as English may from purely deontic senses is a prominent example of subjectification (Traugott 1989).

Synonym

A synonymous term is subjectivization (Stein & Wright 1995).

References

• Langacker, Ronald W. 1990. Subjectification. Cognitive Linguistics 1:5-38.
• Stein, Dieter & Wright, Susan (eds.) 1995. Subjectivity and subjectivisation: Linguuistic perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 1989. On the rise of epistemic meanings in English: An example of subjectification in semantic change. Language 65:31-55.
• Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 1995. Subjectification in grammaticalisation. In: Stein, Dieter & Wright, Susan (eds.) 1995. Subjectivity and subjectivisation: Linguistic perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 31-54.

Other languages

German Subjektifizierung