Subjectification: Various Paths to Subjectivity

Subjectification is a widespread phenomenon and has emerged as a most pervasive tendency in diachronic semantic change (Traugott) and synchronic semantic extension (Langacker). The papers of this thematic volume emphasize the importance of the particular process and also develop and extend it beyond currently available published research. The challenge for every single paper is to show whether the two major approaches (Langacker´s and Traugott´s) can possibly be integrated or whether they are fundamentally different. The papers also investigate whether we have a continuum from highly subjective to more objective, whether subjective need be opposed to objective, or whether subjective may also be understood in contrast to neutral, which is often the case in Traugott's examples of grammaticalization. Furthermore, the issue of intersubjectivity, i.e., putting the addressee's perspective onstage, is also discussed.