Grammaticalization of English Causal Connective On account of

This paper provides a detailed description of grammaticalization of causal complex preposition, on account of. English complex preposition on account of is an example par excellence of grammaticalization in many aspects as it shows properties typical of grammaticalization processes. This paper shows evolution of particular meanings and semantic changes, based on semantic designations of the causal connective provided in Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.; 1991). Four major mechanisms are invoked here to explain such semantic changes, i.e. metaphor, metonymy, generalization, and subjectification. This investigation shows that semantic change is a complex process in which multifarious factors and mechanisms interplay. Finally this paper describes different aspects of the current usage as well as the distributional characteristics of this complex preposition by using the 100-million word British National Corpus. This study shows that given the distributional characteristics of this complex preposition, the current usages of the prepositions are still restricted and affected by semantic persistence.