Old French si, grammaticalisation, and the interconnectedness of change

Abstract

Abstract The particle SI is ubiquitous across the early French textual record, yet receives no uniform analysis, with numerous competing and often contradictory claims in the literature about its distribution and formal status. This study draws on a novel diachronic corpus analysis to put forward an original analysis of SI , under which it is not the homogeneous entity often assumed but rather an adverbial which grammaticalises as a topic-continuity marker and, later, two forms of V2-related expletive. SI loses its previously specific temporal and discourse-pragmatic meaning, shows a widening of distribution and occupies an increasingly high position within the left periphery. In these respects it is shown to instantiate a classic form of upwards grammaticalisation pathway.

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