Subjectification (linguistics)

In historical (or diachronic) linguistics, subjectification (also known as subjectivization or subjectivisation) is a language change process in which a linguistic expression acquires meanings that convey the speaker's attitude or viewpoint. This is a pragmatic-semantic process, which means that inherent as well as contextual meaning of the given expression is considered. Subjectification is realized in lexical and grammatical change. It is also of interest to cognitive linguistics and pragmatics (cf. Ronald Langacker and Elizabeth Traugott).

From a synchronic perspective, subjectivity can be expressed in language in many ways. First of all, the subject is implied in discourse through any speech act. Subjectivity can also be expressed in many grammatical categories, such as person, valence, tense, aspect, mood, evidentials, and deictic expressions more generally.

The most prominent research on subjectification to date comes from linguists Elizabeth Traugott and Ronald Langacker. In Traugott's view, subjectification is a semasiological process in which a linguistic element's "meanings tend to become increasingly based in the speaker's subjective belief state/attitude toward the proposition". From Langacker's standpoint, "an expression's meaning always comprises both subjectively and objectively construed elements, and it is individual conceptual elements within an expression's meaning that, over time, may come to be construed with a greater degree of subjectivity or objectivity".

Traugott also discusses "intersubjectification", alternatively calling subjectivity "(inter)subjectivity" and subjectification "(inter)subjectification". She writes,

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