The Evolution of Pragmatic Markers in English Pathways of Change

282 What’s More and Whatever

or turn closure. A pejorative or negative sense of indifference seems a crucial
element in the meaning of or whatever from the very beginning. Moreover, an
explicitly metalinguistic meaning can be traced back to full clauses such as or
whatever it is called , etc.
The second source is a second- person parenthetical clause of desiring, what-
ever you please/ choose/ like , or of saying or thinking, whatever you say/ think
Adj. These verbal clauses, although relatively small in number, predate the
rise of whatever and often express the attitude of lack of interest or even dis-
dain found in freestanding whatever. Deletion of the second- person subject
and verb of desire, speech, or cognition can occur, as they are easily supplied
from context. I am inclined to support this as the immediate source of the prag-
matic marker whatever because of the discourse context in which it occurs. It is
always uttered either explicitly in response to a suggestion or wish of an inter-
locutor or when a possible claim by the interlocutor is presumed or imagined.
This is the same context in which we fi nd whatever. In contrast, the general
extender or whatever is in an entirely distinct context. It is used by a speaker
who is making an internal search for the correct category or term and not in
response to an interlocutor. Thus, contextually and functionally whatever you
please/ say is much closer to whatever than or whatever  is.
Figure  9.4 represents the development of the pragmatic marker whatever ,
suggesting that whatever inherits from several constructions, including second-
person clauses of desiring, saying, and thinking – a case of multiple inheritance
within a constructional network (see Traugott and Trousdale 2012: 61; also see
Section 10.5). The general extender shows similarities in form and meaning –
forming a subpart link; see Hilpert 2013:  62)  – and serving to reinforce the
development of pragmatic whatever.

9.7 Conclusion

This chapter has examined two quite different pragmatic markers based on
what , what’s more and whatever.

pragmatic marker

whatever

general extender

or/and/like whatever

whatever you

please/like/choose whatever you say

whatever you think

best/proper/etc.

or whatever

parenthetical clause

Figure 9.4 Origin of the pragmatic marker whatever