grammatilises

Grammatilises is a neologistic term used in theoretical linguistics to refer to individual units or instances that participate in grammaticalization. Grammaticalization is the diachronic process by which a lexical item or construction acquires a more grammatical function. A grammatilise, in this sense, is an element that exhibits this shift, moving from content-bearing meaning toward a schematic or functional role within grammar. The plural grammatilises denotes multiple such instances across a language or corpus.

Origin and scope: The term grammatilise (and its plural grammatilises) is formed from elements of "grammar" and the -ilise suffix seen in grammaticalise. It is not widely standardized and appears mainly in speculative or typological discussions. Grammatilises can be words, clitics, particles, or constructions that have acquired grammatical functions such as tense, aspect, mood, negation, or agreement.

Examples and patterns: Typical grammatilises include cliticizing verbs that become auxiliary markers, standalone words that shift into function words, or particles that encode new grammatical categories. A familiar parallel is the English "going to" rising as a future marker, and various languages show particles or affixes that originated as lexical items but later bear grammatical meaning.

Critique and use: The label is not universally adopted and is mainly a heuristic in comparative and historical studies. Critics warn that it can gloss over intermediate stages or obscure historical evidence, while supporters see it as a concise way to summarize complex change processes and cross-linguistic patterns. See also grammaticalisation, cliticisation, functional shift.