One source, two targets

Abstract

The paper addresses the phenomenon of polygrammaticalization based on data from Udi, a lesser-studied language of the Nakh-Daghestanian family. In Udi, two function words sal and saal share the same source structure and represent combinations of the numeral ‘one’ with the additive clitic ‘also, even’. Synchronically, the two words are both formally and functionally distinct: whereas sal is an emphatic negative polarity item ‘(not) a single one’, ‘(not) at all’, saal can be used with the meaning ‘again, one more time’, but is more often found as a coordinating conjunction ‘and’. Considering both modern and diachronic data, I discuss the uses of sal and saal , and the structural and functional parallels of the two Udi words in other languages of the Eastern Caucasus and adjacent areas. The findings highlight the importance of a constructional perspective on grammaticalization, and stress the need to take into account both genealogical and areal factors.