01 / Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Who this book is for
For students examining how lexical material and constructions develop grammatical functions. Lehmann’s study combines extensive examples with an original theoretical model, making it useful in morphology and language-change seminars. Read its parameters as analytical proposals whose usefulness must be demonstrated in data, rather than as automatic labels that settle the history of a form.
Prerequisites
Prior morphology, syntax and historical linguistics are strongly recommended. Be comfortable reading interlinear glosses and following a theoretical distinction across languages. The book is an advanced introduction, not a first encounter with linguistic terminology.
What it covers
After reviewing the research history and delimiting related concepts, the book surveys verbal, pronominal and nominal domains and clause-level relations. Its theoretical account connects grammaticalization with the autonomy of the sign along paradigmatic and syntagmatic dimensions. Parameters are developed to support comparison of degrees of grammaticalization, while examples make the scope of the account more specific than a general claim that languages constantly simplify.
How to use it
Select one construction with a documented historical sequence and separate the attested stages from reconstructed assumptions. Apply each relevant parameter independently, recording which evidence supports the judgement. Ask whether semantic, formal and distributional changes move together or at different rates. Compare a second language without forcing the same sequence on it. Finish by identifying a change the proposed account cannot straightforwardly classify and explain what that difficulty reveals about either the data or the theory.
Edition and sources
The complete Language Science Press third edition was released in 2015; it follows a 1982 working paper, a 1995 publication and a 2002 revision. The publisher’s PDF uses CC BY 4.0 and has the stated digital ISBN. Later copyright or repository dates should not replace that publication history. The edition adds an epilogue and corrections rather than constituting a newly unrelated work. Official complete reading route.
