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Este artículo analiza el uso de los marcadores for example y for instance en construcciones ejemplificativas, selectivas y argumentativas. De estos tres usos, la ejemplificación--a saber, estructuras con una primera unidad más genérica o hiperónimo y un segundo elemento más específico o hipónimo--ha recibido una atención recurrente en la literatura, mientras que la selección--construcciones donde se omite el primer elemento genérico--y la argumentación--el uso de marcadores para conectar fragmentos completos de discurso--han sido ignoradas durante mucho tiempo. Este estudio, basado en datos de ARCHER 3.2, muestra que los tres usos coexisten desde al menos la segunda mitad del siglo diecisiete y que la argumentación prevalece tanto en inglés británico como americano. Además, estos marcadores son muy productivos en ciertos géneros, como la ciencia, los sermones y la publicidad. Por otro lado, aunque la función principal de for example y for instance es introducir ejemplos, ambos han desarrollado diferentes valores pragmáticos que los acercan a la categoría de marcadores del discurso. Así, por ejemplo, su uso como mitigadores los convierte en una herramienta óptima para suavizar la interacción y, por tanto, reducir el riesgo de ofender a nuestro interlocutor. Palabras clave: for example; for instance; marcadores de ejemplificación; ejemplificación; selección; argumentación This article analyses the use of the example markers for example and for instance in exemplifying, selective and argumentative constructions. Of these three uses, exemplification--twofold sequences with a first general unit or hyperonym and a second more specific item or hyponym--has received recurrent attention in the literature, whereas selection--constructions where the first element is omitted--and argumentation--the use of example markers to connect whole chunks of discourse--have long been ignored. The present study, using data from ARCHER 3.2, shows that the three uses have coexisted since at least the second half of the seventeenth century and that argumentation prevails in both British and American English. Moreover, example markers are very productive in certain genres, such as science, sermons and advertising. Additionally, even though the primary function of example markers is to introduce their scope domain, they have developed different pragmatic values that bring them closer to the category of discourse markers. Thus, for example, their use as mitigators makes them an optimal tool for smoothing interaction and hence reducing the risk of offending our interlocutor. Keywords:for example; for instance;example markers; exemplification; selection; argumentation, The History of for example and for instance as Markers of Exemplification, Selection and Argumentation (1600-1999) 1. Introduction Exemplification has been traditionally described as a common discourse strategy used to [...]

The verb to like has fallen repeatedly under the gaze of scholars. One aspect which has stimulated vigorous discussion is its original use in impersonal constructions and its later change of argument structure along with the disappearance of impersonals from English. Nonetheless, evidence from current informal English shows that like is now used in constructions which bear a close resemblance to the older impersonals, although always displaying alternative spelling variants, especially likey. This paper seeks to further our understanding of the verb to like , focusing specifically on these new constructions. To this end I will use likey as a generic label to refer to such new uses and constructions, regardless of variations in spelling (unless otherwise stated). Using data from the Corpus of Historical American English and iWeb Corpus , the study will seek to answer the following research questions: RQ1. What are the morpho-syntactic features of the expression 'me (no) likey' in Present-Day English? RQ2. What is the origin of the sequence 'me (no) likey'? RQ3. Where do phrasal patterns with likey fall on the continuum of idiomaticity (Michaelis, 2017)? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the diachronic development of the Spanish multifunctional formula en plan (with its variant en plan de, literally 'in plan (of)' but usually equivalent to English like). The article has two main aims: firstly, to describe the changes that the formula has undergone since its earliest occurrences as a marker in the nineteenth century up to the early 21st century. The diachronic study evinces a process of grammaticalization in three steps: from noun to clause adverbial and then to discourse marker. Secondly, to conduct a contrastive analysis between en plan (de) and the English markers like and kind of/kinda so as to shed new light on the potential existence of a universal pathway of grammaticalization in the emergence of discourse markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Givón's words "today's morphology is yesterday's syntax" have been widely used to describe grammaticalization, a process of linguistic change which implies an increase in the grammatical status of a word or construction. In this paper, the process of grammaticalization of (for) example and (for) instance from nouns to example markers will be described. The paper will also address the incipient lexicalization of these expressions. However, this process is still at a very early phase. In light of the corpus material, the lexicalization of for example and for instance can be summarized with the analogous formula "today's syntax might be tomorrow's lexis", a more tentative motto since lexical constructions do not frequently originate in syntax. The examples analysed here show that grammaticalization and lexicalization may at times feed each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a corpus-based study of the Spanish phrase en plan (de) from a functional perspective. Overall, seven different functions have been identified, which can be grouped into two macrofunctions, namely the adverbial and the discursive values. Discursive uses are only recorded since the late 20th century, and they are more frequent in oral texts. The study also shows the variation between the prepositional phrase en plan de and the adverbial phrase en plan, which gains ground in the most recent texts. Finally, a more detailed analysis of the use of en plan (de) among Spanish teenagers in the early 21st century is also provided, since it is in this demographic sector where the use of the formula is more recurrent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to provide a formal and functional analysis of a selection of four English exemplifying markers, namely including, included, for example and for instance. The analysis unveils some recent ongoing changes which point at the broadening of the structural scope of including (which used to link exclusively non phrases in the past but can now be used with a wider variety of syntactic forms) and an increasing discursive use of for example and for instance (both tend to connect whole chunks of discourse and seem to be developing pragmatic meanings, especially - but not exclusively - as mitigators). The corpus-driven study is based on the texts of the Brown family of corpora, which allows the identification of any potential diachronic variation observed at three points in present-day English (namely, the 1960s, the 1990s and the 2000s) in both British and American English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This corpus-based analysis aims at furthering the studies on epistemic markers in Spanish with a special focus on two of the latter forms which have been incorporated to this paradigm: igual and lo mismo. For our purposes, two historical corpora have been used, namely CORDE and CREA as they allow a diachronic overview of the forms under analysis and the identification of the context in which these formulas could have developed their current epistemic value. This is to be found in the comparative structures in which both formulas could appear: when one of the two terms in the comparison is omitted, the epistemic value emerges. Likewise, the data also reveal a clear tendency to use both formulas with verbs in the indicative mood, a feature which distinguishes igual and lo mismo from other epistemic markers like quizá(s) or tal vez, which favored the use of the subjunctive. Grammaticalization is used as the theoretical frame to approach the change undergone by the selected items. The study closes with a contrastive analysis of the various markers discussed throughout the paper in present-day oral Spanish as shown in CORPES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]