Subjectification and Intersubjectification

@cite{traugott-dasher-2002} @cite{traugott-2010}

The diachronic hypothesis that lexical items acquire subjective and intersubjective meanings over time, in a fixed order:

nonsubjective → subjective → intersubjective

This is one of the best-supported unidirectional tendencies in semantic change, attested across modality, connectives, discourse markers, and spatial expressions.

The synchronic infrastructure (the SubjectivityLevel type and ordering) lives in Core.Subjectivity. This module formalizes the diachronic claims: that the ordering reflects a historical trajectory, that each transition is unidirectional, and that specific semantic domains exhibit this pattern.

Connections

• Theories.Semantics.Modality.Narrog: speaker-orientation level maps to subjectivity level; the directionality of modal change (see Diachronic.ModalChange) is an instance of subjectification.
• Core.Lexical.Binominal: the bleaching cline (N+PP → evaluative → intensifier) parallels the subjectification trajectory in the nominal domain: N₁ shifts from denoting objective properties to expressing speaker attitude.
• Diachronic.Grammaticalization: subjectification is a semantic dimension of grammaticalization — as forms grammaticalize, they tend to acquire more subjective meanings.

structure Diachronic.Subjectification.SubjectificationStep : Type

A diachronic subjectification step: a word or construction acquires a meaning at a higher subjectivity level.

• expression : String

  Description of the expression.

• sourceMeaning : String

  Earlier (less subjective) meaning.

• targetMeaning : String

  Later (more subjective) meaning.

• sourceLevel : Core.Subjectivity.SubjectivityLevel

  Subjectivity level of the source meaning.

• targetLevel : Core.Subjectivity.SubjectivityLevel

  Subjectivity level of the target meaning.

• directed : self.sourceLevel ≤ self.targetLevel

  Unidirectionality: target is at least as subjective as source.

instance Diachronic.Subjectification.instReprSubjectificationStep : Repr SubjectificationStep

Equations

• Diachronic.Subjectification.instReprSubjectificationStep = { reprPrec := Diachronic.Subjectification.instReprSubjectificationStep.repr }

def Diachronic.Subjectification.instReprSubjectificationStep.repr : SubjectificationStep → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Diachronic.Subjectification.canonicalExamples : List SubjectificationStep

Canonical examples of subjectification. @cite{traugott-dasher-2002} Table 1, @cite{traugott-2010} §2.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

theorem Diachronic.Subjectification.all_directed (s : SubjectificationStep) : s ∈ canonicalExamples → s.sourceLevel ≤ s.targetLevel

All canonical examples respect unidirectionality.

def Diachronic.Subjectification.binominalSubjectificationSteps : List SubjectificationStep

Subjectification steps in the binominal (N₁-of-N₂) domain.

@cite{ten-wolde-2023} §4.5: the EBNP → EM → BI transitions are driven by subjectification — N₁ shifts from ascribing objective/physical properties to expressing the speaker's subjective evaluation.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

theorem Diachronic.Subjectification.binominal_steps_directed (s : SubjectificationStep) : s ∈ binominalSubjectificationSteps → s.sourceLevel ≤ s.targetLevel

The N+PP → EBNP step is a genuine subjectification (nonSubjective → subjective); the later steps maintain subjectivity while bleaching semantics further.

theorem Diachronic.Subjectification.intersubjectification_presupposes_subjectification : Core.Subjectivity.SubjectivityLevel.subjective ≤ Core.Subjectivity.SubjectivityLevel.intersubjective

Intersubjectification: the final stage of the cline, where meanings come to encode attention to the addressee's face/self-image.

@cite{traugott-2010}: intersubjectification presupposes subjectification. An expression must first acquire speaker-oriented meaning before it can develop addressee-oriented meaning.

theorem Diachronic.Subjectification.cline_total_order (a b : Core.Subjectivity.SubjectivityLevel) : a ≤ b ∨ b ≤ a

The full cline is totally ordered.