Weakening of pragmatic force and socio-cultural factors. The pragmaticalization cycle of Italian grammatical deference

This chapter considers the cycle of grammatical deference in Italian. The co-optation of grammatical elements for social work (e.g. V forms) is a ‘slant’ pan-Indo-European (IE) phenomenon; however, in Italian it highlights the relation between linear and cyclic changes and on processes driving them. Through an analysis of plays written between the 16th and 20th centuries, this chapter considers how social, communicative, and cognitive factors can trigger pragmatic cycles. The IE slant of grammatical deference creates the humus for changes in the Italian deference system, while the cognitive propensity for routinization results in pragmatic weakening of the V form voi (2PL). This leads to a form–function mismatch and to the renewal of the V form (voi > lei (3SG)). Such changes insert into a climate of critique of politeness rules which has a relevant role in propelling routinization and pragmatic weakening. This affects the cognitive base that morphology comes to reflect.