Grammaticalization

Abstract Grammaticalization is a well-established field of investigation in Portuguese linguistics, and a vast number of grammaticalization pathways have been documented. In this chapter we frame grammaticalization within a broader functional view of grammatical change, focusing on how roots with more lexical meaning acquire new grammatical functions (the process of functionalization) and how they are accommodated in the grammatical system (their consequent categorization). We examine the grammaticalization of future tense auxiliaries, evidential markers, anaphoric junctive adverbs, and coordinating conjunctions as a means to discuss parameters of grammaticalization and the lexicon–grammar continuum in Portuguese. Finally, we look at a rather neglected topic in the literature: the implications of grammaticalization for lexicography and grammaticography, and discuss how Portuguese dictionaries and grammars have accounted for categorical shifts and gradience.