A typology of demonstrative clause linkers

Across languages, demonstratives provide a frequent diachronic source for a wide range of grammatical markers, including certain types of clause linkers such as English so, that, thus and therefore. Drawing on data from a sample of 100 languages, this chapter presents a cross-linguistic survey of (grammaticalised) demonstratives that are routinely used to combine clauses or propositions. The study shows that demonstrative clause linkers occur in a large variety of constructions including all major types of subordinate clauses and paratactic sentences. Concentrating on the most frequent types, the chapter considers (grammaticalised) demonstratives functioning as (i) relative pronouns, (ii) linking and nominalising articles, (iii) quotative markers, (iv) complementisers, (v) conjunctive adverbs, (vi) adverbial subordinate conjunctions, (vii) correlatives and (viii) topic markers. It is the purpose of the chapter to provide a comprehensive overview of demonstrative clause linkers from a cross-linguistic perspective and to consider the mechanisms of change that are involved in the grammaticalisation of demonstratives in clause linkage constructions.