This research looks at six languages in three typologically-different language groups: agglutinating, isolating, and inflectional language groups, with special reference to the grammaticalization patterns of their grammatical devices marking the notion of instrumentality. A survey shows that the most frequently exploited known sources of instrumentals comprise four major semantic schemata: the action schema, the motion schema, the path schema, the association schema. In terms of typological generalization as to the grammaticalization patterns of instrumentals, the subject languages in agglutinating languages have the markers whose grammaticalization processes have already proceeded considerably and thus have a relatively high level of lexical opacity, whereas the two languages in the inflectional languages have highly grammaticalized instrumentals that nonetheless have a high level of lexical transparency. This state of affairs contrasts with the isolating languages where the instrumentals still bear similarities with, and sometimes are even indistinguishable from, their lexical counterparts. The differing degrees of lexical opacity have to do with the typological differences in that isolating languages are most conservative in formal changes (and thus in semantic transparency); agglutinating languages are least conservative; and the inflectional languages are in between these two polar extremes forming a continuum. This paper identifies the roles of typological characteristics in producing differences and commonalities in grammaticalization of instrumental markers.
1. Introduction
2. Grammaticalization of Instrumental
3. Typological Characteristics
4. Networks of Instrumentals
5. Summary and Conclusion