When "something" becomes "a bit"

Abstract

This paper analyzes the mechanisms of syntactic and semantic change involved in the development of the degree modifier algo 'a bit' from an indefinite pronoun meaning 'something' in Spanish, from the Medieval to the Classical period. It focuses both on the structural conditions for the reanalysis of the pronoun in pseudo-partitive constructions and on the pragmatic inferences licensed by its quantificational and indefinite meaning. This diachronic development is studied against the background of cross-linguistic tendencies in the distribution of degree modifiers, thus providing a historical perspective on the cross-categorial nature of gradability.