The Evolution of Pragmatic Markers in English Pathways of Change

Propositional

Textual

Interpersonal

OE

interrogativepronoun

interrogative complementizer

hwæt þa(contextual implication)

hwæt

(shared

knowledge)

(la/eala) hwæt

interrogativeadverb

interrogativeadjective

ME

what(speaker surprise)

what ho(attention getting)

what a(exclamation)

EModE PDE

y'know what?

Figure 2.1 Development of

what

Source

: adapted from Laurel J. Brinton,

Pragmatic markers in English: Grammaticalization and discourse functions

.

Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1996, p. 207; with permission.

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