Grammaticalization of Quasi-Modal Auxiliaries

The goal of this paper is to offer a new account of English quasi-modal auxiliaries, be going to and have to from a grammaticalization perspective. This paper provides an overview of the theory of grammaticalization, including its characteristics, important mechanisms, and its three tentative stages. Grammaticalization is a process that creates new grammatical categories, usually involving a full lexical word that eventually changes into a grammatical function, and a less grammatical meaning that gradually changes into a more grammatical meaning. Bemuse of the complexity of the semantic changes that occur during grammaticalization, no single mechanism can be used to explain all phenomena and therefore a range of mechanisms is proposed. These include metaphor, inference, generalization, semantic bleaching, metonymy, subjectification, analogy and reanalysis. Many of these mechanisms are simultaneously related to the grammaticalization of be going to and have to. By studying the pathways and mechanisms of the grammaticalization process of these words, we can gain a more cogent explanation as to why quasi-modal auxiliaries take their present form and meaning. The application of grammaticalization theory in a comparative analysis of be going to vs. will and have to vs. must, enables us to see the respective similarities and differences in form and function of quasi-modal auxiliaries versus modal auxiliaries.